


RWBY: Renegades

by dongyrn



Category: RWBY
Genre: 100 Bullets, Action/Adventure, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, F/F, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Suicide Squad, no this is NOT a pollination fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-01 22:22:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 37,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11495934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dongyrn/pseuds/dongyrn
Summary: The six years following the Battle of Beacon have not been kind to the disparate former members of Team RWBY. But now Ozpin needs some people with a particular skillset, people who will not quail at getting their hands dirty, or bloody for that matter. And he has an offer for the four disjointed former Huntresses-in-training that they simply cannot refuse. (Currently on hiatus.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Standard Disclaimer:** All rights belong to those whose rights they belong to, primarily the glorious minds at Rooster Teeth, though quite namely not me. Don't own a thing.

**Beacon University, Vale  
** **One Week Ago**

The figure stood on the edge of the air pad, gazing out at the evening sky. Vale was lit up in the distance, all bright lights and bustle as the normal citizens of the kingdom went about their business.

Not that she'd know what  _normal_  looked like anymore even if it were to bite her in the ass.

The woman sighed softly, remembering a happier time when she could stand out there with her team and enjoy the weather, the fruits of a long day training or schoolwork or any number of things that seemed to be the center of their existence… Friendship… Love…

 _Foolishness_.

"Bad day," she murmured to herself wearily. "Started out bad, stayed that way."

The woman chuckled ruefully. She was no stranger to shitty days, they just seemed to pile up, one atop the other, until they ran by in a blur. She was adrift and purposeless. Killing Grimm bored her to tears now, but what else was there for her?

What else indeed…

But the offer presented to her was so ludicrous, so insane… There was no way for her to do it by herself, not even to finally silence the regrets and pain by ending it all, letting herself finally go into the dark. No, this was too important, everything she'd done and sacrificed to get to this point would mean nothing if this wasn't dealt with. She needed help. She needed… the others.

Another figure, standing at a respectful distance away, so still that he might not even have been alive, finally broke his silence.

"I need an answer."

"Yes," she sighed wryly. "I suppose you do."

 _Time to play the cards I've been dealt_ , she thought to herself as she turned, determination flashing in her eyes to make the most of one more shitty day.  _Even with as crappy of a hand as it is. And with any luck, he'll accept the new deal._

_With even more luck, they won't simply kill me on sight._

**Beacon University, Vale  
** **Today**

Ozpin stood at the window of his office, looking out across the restored campus of Beacon. The view didn't have quite the same feel as before, even though both the tower he stood in and the buildings that made up the academy for Hunters were all rebuilt to the same exact specifications as the original architecture.

No, what was different was the  _newness_  of it all. The clear glass, absent any marks or dust. The fresh smell of the carpeting and the paint. Even the gears overhead, how they meshed together seamlessly and far quieter than before, absent the many small imperfections that had built up over the years.

His previous office had been well broken-in before it had simply been broken.

The headmaster shrugged minutely, taking a sip from his ever-present mug. Such things were to be taken in stride, minor annoyances as they were. He had far more momentous things to occupy his attention. One of which should be ready any moment now.

As if on cue, his intercom chimed gently. "Professor, they are assembled as instructed."

He smiled and reached across his desk to pick up a set of folders, tucking them under his arm. "Thank you, Glynda, I'll be right there."

His recovered cane tapped the floor as he entered the elevator, pressing the button for a floor midway down. As the elevator descended, he hummed to himself thoughtfully, glancing down at the inlaid marble tiles.

He liked the old flooring better.

At the proper level, Ozpin exited onto a windowless corridor, striding along with slow, measured steps. Glynda stood outside a door, her arms crossed irritably. Whether said irritation was due to the occupants of the room behind her, or the man standing next to her, he couldn't immediately ascertain.

"Oz," the raven-haired man rasped out. "This was a shitty assignment."

Glynda rolled her eyes in exasperation. "You only had the one to retrieve."

Ozpin nodded his head thoughtfully, picking up on the true source of her ire. "And I do appreciate your efforts. I know this was a… delicate situation for you."

"Damn right it was," Qrow grunted, taking a swig from his flask. "Still need me? I'd rather not be around when…"

"No, go on, old friend," he nodded. Turning to Glynda next, he tried for his most reassuring smile. "I won't need you either, Glynda, you may retire. I'm sure you have more important things to do."

"Professor," she protested, bespectacled eyes flashing in concern. "You know who is in there. No matter who they once were, they are now a dangerous collection of criminals and malcontents and…"

"Yes, thank you, Glynda," he murmured soothingly. "That will be all."

With an irritated huff, the combat instructor and assistant headmaster turned and strode down towards the elevator that Qrow was smugly holding for her. Once the echoes of her clacking heels were cut off by the closing of the elevator doors, Ozpin took a deep breath and walked into the conference room.

As soon as he entered, he could feel the tension. It bled over from each occupant's stance and closed-off posture, whether they were standing or sitting. The sole person by the window turned partially, her features barely visible from behind the hood of her black cloak before facing outwards once again.

"I thank you all for meeting with me," Ozpin began as he lowered himself across the table from the three who remained sitting, placing the folders in front of him in a neat stack.

"Like I had a choice," the blonde one scoffed.

"True," he conceded with an inclined head. "But I hope to make this worth your while."

"Somehow I doubt that," the young woman returned brashly. "But go ahead, ain't like I got anywhere else to be right now."

Ozpin nodded once more and regarded the four assembled before him. The blond reclined in her chair with feigned indifference, though the tenseness showed from her bloodshot eyes down to how tightly her arms were wrapped around her middle. He could view her green cargoes and brown combat boots beneath the tempered glass surface of the conference table, and her orange halter tank top was barely visible beneath the tan jacket. But even with her arms crossed, there was no mistaking the angular lines from her prosthetic right arm. Once-luxurious blonde waves of hair were now dull and limp, tied back in a messy ponytail that only came down to her shoulders, shorn a bit from her days at Beacon.

Next to her sat a diminutive girl with platinum hair cropped into a short bob and pinned back behind her ears. Her posture was ramrod-straight, hands folded in her lap, though they clutched the edges of her white overcoat with equally white knuckles. A pale blue blouse, crisp white trousers, and heeled white boots completed her attire. The familiar scar that bisected her left eye was now crossed by a new, fresher one that started at the bridge of her nose to trail down to her jawline. It was pinker than the other one, obviously sustained much more recently.

There was an empty seat between her and the next occupant, which was perhaps understandable. The Cat Faunus wore her ears without concealment, so very different from her time at Beacon. Her knees were crossed tightly, the black leather tights bouncing slightly with her matching heeled boot as she nervously fidgeted. She had left her black overcoat, lined with a deep purple, over the back of her chair, leaving her arms and shoulders bare from the sleeveless top that reached to her belt, with diamond-shaped cutouts along her collarbone.

And then there was the last member of the assembled, though disparate, group.

"Would you come sit, please?" the Headmaster inquired politely.

None of the other three reacted as the fourth complied, her black cloak billowing out behind her as she turned, revealing dark red lining the color of dried blood. Black combat boots stomped across the floor, matching the leggings and vest that she wore over a low-cut white blouse. As she sat, her functional black combat skirt flared to reveal the red lining that matched her cloak's. She pulled her hood back and brushed her long brunette hair over her shoulder. The action flashed a bit of color from the under-dyed red hair.

All four of them sat without looking at each other, distrust and unease practically screaming from their nonverbals.

The six years since the Battle of Beacon had not been kind to Team RWBY, even with as much promise as they had once displayed.

Ozpin flipped open the first folder and began to peruse it, murmuring comments as he went along.

"Yang Xiao Long, age twenty-four. Received a prosthetic arm after injuries sustained during the Battle of Beacon… eventually turned to bounty hunting as a profession…" He glanced up at the blonde who had abandoned all pretense of nonchalance as she looked off to the side, jaw clenched. "How is that working out for you?"

"Fine," she gritted out tersely.

"Hmm… Several bar brawls, including a few that resulted in some deaths… Arrested once for drunk and disorderly misconduct. And it would seem your last several bounties were a bit… botched, weren't they? One escaped to be picked up by another hunter, while the others were brought in dead, even though one bounty, in particular, had specified alive."

Yang shrugged, her face tight. "It happens."

Ozpin nodded, flipping through the pages. "I'm interested in this one bounty, for a certain criminal by the name of… Neopolitan." At the mention of the name, the creak of her metal hand clenching was clearly audible. "You collected the bounty on her corpse."

"I did."

"And yet the cause of death was… 'massive penetrating trauma due to several wide incisions'. That would appear to be a bit different from the blunt force trauma I'd expect from you, Miss Xiao Long."

Yang had no answer to that, but if anything she became more closed-off and rigidly controlled.

"I see," he murmured, closing the folder and moving on to the next. "Very well then… Weiss Schnee, also aged twenty-four and once heiress to the Schnee Dust Corporation. Forcibly relocated from Vale to Atlas by your father directly after the Battle of Beacon."

"That is correct," the platinum-haired woman stated calmly, her words clipped and precise.

"Visited by your former team leader shortly thereafter…"

Weiss interrupted before he could continue any further. "I fail to see how that could possibly be relevant."

"Hmm. And then you set out to take over the SDC, it would seem." Ozpin looked up, cold blue eyes meeting his own levelly. "Your efforts took several years, but the only fruit they bore were bloodshed and division."

"Yes." Weiss looked down at her hands momentarily. "Things did not… go as planned."

He glanced back down at the folder. "And then you murdered your father."

"It was  _not_  murder," the former heiress snapped. "It was a duel, plain and simple. He exercised the same level of lethality that I did."

"Well, the end result of all this was your banishment from the SDC by the reconstituted board of directors, your younger brother Whitley discredited and publicly ruined, and your sister Winter instated as the CEO."

Weiss didn't answer this time, simply nodded slightly while her gaze remained focused on her hands.

"And since then," Ozpin sighed heavily, closing the folder, "you have been engaged in what some have called corporate terrorism, earning you a bounty on your head with your own sister's signature on it."

" _Not_  terrorism," she once again protested hotly, pale blue eyes flashing as she looked up this time. "I was fighting the injustice of corporate greed and corruption."

Her defense was met by an ever-so-slightly audible snort of derision that came from the other side of the table. It caused the former heiress to stiffen, her lips clamped shut tightly and forming a thin slash of anger.

Ozpin turned his head consideringly. "And what of you, Blake Belladonna? Vanished into seemingly thin air after the Battle of Beacon was hardly over, only to reappear within the ranks of the White Fang after approximately a year. Though your parents are still alive and living in Menagerie, you were never in contact with them." He flipped through the pages of her folder. "Several warrants out for your arrest due to numerous acts of terrorism… Interestingly enough, you never wore a mask, though your comrades always did. Why was that?"

The Cat Faunus' ears flattened against her head. "It was not allowed," she murmured softly through stiff lips.

"Hmm… and then, shortly after the death of one Adam Taurus, you disappeared once more. In fact, you are the only Faunus in history to have left the White Fang, twice, alive."

Blake didn't respond to that, merely twitched her ears as intense amber eyes regarded him levelly.

With another heavy sigh, Ozpin closed the file and rested his hand on the last one. "And then there is Ruby Rose, former team leader." He gently pulled the cover aside to regard the pages within. "Currently twenty-two years of age. Saved several lives during the Battle of Beacon, including that of Miss Pyrrha Nikos. Even though the main culprit, Cinder Fall, escaped, you were hailed as a hero… And then you set out on your journey with Team JNPR into Mistral." Ozpin looked up at the brunette. "And that's where things seemed to go rather wrong, didn't they?"

The headmaster was struck by how much Ruby, in particular, had changed. Eyes once the color of quicksilver, lively and humorous and so very much like her mother's, now looked back at him, flat and gunmetal grey, without any emotion whatsoever. "I suppose they did," she responded neutrally.

He glanced back down at the substantially thicker file compared to the other three. "After the interrogation of a captured Mercury Black, you killed him in cold blood. Whyever for?"

Ruby didn't twitch, nor did her expression change even infinitesimally. "I was provoked."

Ozpin sighed, sparing a quick glance at the others. They seemed to be in the same stances as before, but he could tell they were all interested in Ruby's story.

"You separated from Team JNPR after that, over the protests of Miss Nikos, and struck out on your own. From there, your kill list expanded to include… one Emerald Sustrai, who was another known associate of your quarry. Finally, you cornered Cinder Fall in an industrial district." He shifted the paper to the side and shook his head slowly. "The entire neighborhood was scorched to the ground, though you succeeded in eliminating your quarry. Arrested afterward… Due to the muddied relations between the kingdoms at the time, you were released but deported. Standing warrant for your arrest should you ever set foot in Mistral again."

One edge of the black cloak drifted up slightly in a shrug. "The weather sucked anyway."

"Indeed." He carefully hid his smirk as he continued. "Once back in Vale, after collecting a few bounties on Grimm, you next set your sights upon a certain criminal by the name of Roman Torchwick, formerly incarcerated with General Ironwood. I understand you clashed with Mr. Torchwick aboard one of the airships during the Battle of Beacon."

Ruby nodded slightly. "Saved his worthless ass from a Griffon and he still kicked me off the ship."

"Well, I would say you paid him back in kind…" Ozpin pursed his lips. "And I daresay there is still doubt whether or not they found all the pieces. And that brings us to the next in your streak of kills… Neopolitan." He looked between the two siblings who were very carefully not reacting save for identically clenched jaws. With the younger sister's growth in both height and hair, they looked remarkably like two sides of the same coin now, one light and the other dark. "There was some disagreement with your sister over that target."

"There was," Ruby confirmed brusquely.

"Yet you got there first and eliminated the woman."

"I did."

"Well, that would explain the curious cause of death… But you allowed Miss Xiao Long to collect the bounty?"

Ruby glanced away. "I wasn't interested in the lien."

Ozpin cleared his throat, turning to the last page. "And one final kill."

The brunette stirred. "I don't-"

"Adam Taurus."

At the spoken name, several reactions rippled throughout the room. Ruby closed her eyes almost wearily, while both Blake and Yang regarded her with shocked looks.

Ozpin perused the paper in front of him, seemingly paying little attention to the room's occupants. "That was quite the fight, it would seem you barely escaped with your life… Actually ended up in the hospital, which is where you were found by Professor Goodwitch."

Ruby opened her eyes, staring back at him flatly. "I'm fine now. All healed up."

"That is fortunate indeed, then, as I have a use for the four of you." Ozpin regarded them all levelly as he closed the final file and shuffled them back into a neat pile. "I have need of a group of highly-skilled individuals who can work for me incognito. Your actions are your own, so long as they deliver results. If you are caught, however… I will disavow any knowledge of your assignment."

"That sounds like a fairly imbalanced deal," Weiss retorted crisply. "What is in this for us? Why should we work for you, or with each other?"

"If you complete the task I am setting before you," Ozpin replied with the faintest hint of a smirk. "I will clear your records of all misdeeds, including ones incurred while working for me."

Yang sat up straight at that, looking back at him incredulously. Weiss blinked rapidly as she assimilated the offer, while Blake's Faunus ears twitched furiously. Ruby was the only one to remain completely unfazed.

"As for further incentive…" Ozpin offered them a tight smile. "If you do not, then I will personally hunt you down and incarcerate you in a very dark, very deep hole where you will never see the light of day again."

The blonde gulped audibly. "Yeah, um, good incentive."

Both Weiss and Blake gave him quick nods, while Ruby simply inclined her head marginally once.

He lifted his mug up to take a sip, smiling serenely. "I thought you might see things my way."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Okay, then! So while work and life continue to smack me square in the face, and my ongoing stories languish… I figured I'd let this one see the light of day. It's only half written because I need to fix the latter half of the story and the bad guy plot… But what I have written is too good just to let it sit for another year. So, enjoy what I have so far, I'll post maybe once a week or so, and maybe I'll figure out eventually what I want to do with the rest of it.
> 
> This tale is heavily inspired by fanfics such as _The Commission_ by **CV12Hornet** , _The Rogue Rose_ by **xxnarwhalxx** , _Last Huntress_ by **Foxinstrazt** , and _Picking Up The Pieces_ by **Etheriell** (all excellent stories I highly recommend), and then the movie adaptation of the _Suicide Squad_ comics, as well as the comic series _100 Bullets_. It's been percolating in my head for some time, but solidified once I saw _Suicide Squad_ in the theaters. And so this is born.
> 
> Also, I love slipping the "bad day" quote into stories as a tribute to the master himself, Joss Whedon. (Might remember it from another of my tales, Retired.)
> 
> The characters will often act OOC, but that's to be expected as they have all changed drastically, mostly for the worse. Some flashbacks will occur to provide more context, but in between the action (and there will be much action, much bloodshed) will be the meat of the story, as the four girls try to rebuild their relationships with each other, tenuously for certain, but definitely not to the point where they were at Beacon. The past is in the past.
> 
> Couple of other notes, there are a few obvious divergences from canon, though this is a post-Volume 3 story (pretty much ignoring Volume 4). Obviously, Ozpin survived. Pyrrha was saved (yay!) by Ruby arriving in the nick of time. And Roman also survived (yay!) though he was then killed by Ruby (boo!) before the story even starts.
> 
> This story will consist of quite a few morally grey areas. Clues will need to be followed, and oftentimes cannot be asked for nicely from those holding the secrets, be they criminals or Hunters. RWBY will be fighting a wide array of foes, and not all of them will be the 'bad guys'.
> 
> And I have to drop a quick thanks to my plethora of Betas, who between the lot of them (as time and schedules permit) have hopefully caught any errors: **Silvana_Crowe, KellyConnely, CaliopeGrant** , and the very talented **kaiju62**! Much love you guys!
> 
> Hope you enjoy, and please drop a review to let me know what you think!
> 
> Stay shiny!


	2. Chapter 2

**Atlas  
** **Five Years Ago**

Weiss stood at the window, gazing out across the night lights of downtown Atlas. It had taken a good deal of persuading to get her father to allow her this slight independence, a residence close to the main SDC offices for when she ended up working late. She'd managed to earn the apartment, as nothing from the man ever came free, with her dedicated work as the newly-instated VP of Research and Development.

She sighed, leaning her forehead against the cool glass. Her dress was simple but elegant, white at her neckline and trailing off at her feet into a light blue. She'd taken her heels off at the door, and luxuriated slightly in the feel of the plush carpeting under her bare feet.

Sleep was an indulgence she found rare to come by, and after the day she'd just had, there was no chance of capturing it anytime soon.

She focused in on her reflection in the window, on the scowl now plastered across her face. How could she  _do_  that to her? Embarrass her in front of all her employees like that?

The platinum-haired girl sighed again heavily, sweeping her long ponytail to the side, not for the first time debating on whether or not she should trim it to a more mature length. Something to show how she'd changed, grown up in just the past year, how she'd moved on…

" _Damn_  that girl!" she snarled hotly, pounding a small fist against the glass. Why couldn't she understand it was over between them?

Yes, their conversation could have gone better, considering how quickly it had degenerated into a screaming match once Ruby discovered that the girl she came to 'rescue' had no intention of leaving. And why should she? Weiss would never be free of her father's influence, no matter where she went or how far she ran, he would always find a way to fetch her back and bend her to his will once more.

And so, following the Battle of Beacon and her subsequent kidnapping by the private SDC security forces, and after a brief period of her usual rebelliousness, she had come to a realization.

The only way to escape him… was to defeat him. Soundly.

And so her course was set. She was resigned to securing a place inside the SDC, settling into her role with grim determination. And no single brunette, no matter how much they'd shared, or loved, or given each other… Their hearts, their virginity, their hopes and dreams… No one person would deter her from the path she'd set herself upon.

The platinum-haired girl was at war now, even though her father was not yet aware of it, nor her younger brother or older sister. She was still a Schnee, after all, and a Schnee gets what they want with determination, planning, and skill. The only possible outcome of this upcoming conflict, the only way to ensure she was no longer under her father's thumb, was for Weiss to wrest control of the SDC away from its current CEO.

And she was prepared to die trying.

Weiss remained standing at the window, her unfocused eyes running over the plan in her head. Nothing could be put down to paper or scroll as of yet, not when everything was still in their infancy. Discovery would be disastrous at this early stage. She would need to work slowly but surely, gathering support and resources while subtly undermining both her father and her brother, the latter most likely to take over as the heir to the company were she to be discovered. The plan would be meticulous, but it would encompass every possible contingency.

Before she would act, it would be perfect.

And as she stood there, she pointedly ignored the one, small tear of regret that trickled down her cheek in a parallel line to her scar.

**Safe House, Downtown Vale  
** **Today**

The former members of Team RWBY sat around the living room of their safe house, though it was an apartment really, tense and mute. Yang lounged in an overstuffed chair in the far corner, seemingly indifferent to the others' presence, though she would tense up every so often when Blake would pace nearby.

For her part, the Cat Faunus could not seem to sit still, as if she'd stored up her energy for so long it demanded release of some sort. She was practically vibrating with unease, a dramatic change from her past. Or perhaps it had something to do with the occasional sharp glances she sent Weiss' way where she perched on a couch on the other side of the goodly-sized room.

The former heiress sat as she always did, posture perfect and her hands folded serenely in her lap. One would think she were there for a social function, though she had removed her coat and sat in her light blue blouse and white pants. Her true agitation was reflected in her pale blue eyes that kept flickering between her former teammates, though they lingered particularly on her ex-girlfriend.

Ruby was at a small, four-person table in the center of the room and directly across from the vid screen set into the wall. They were waiting for a support personnel to arrive, and after that, they would receive their briefing from Ozpin over the feed. Until then, the brunette methodically went through their gear that she had wrangled from the Headmaster. In particular, she fiddled with the highly advanced microbead transmitters that would fit into their ears and allow for communication between the group and their support.

She had a fairly large stack of Dust magazines and boxed ammunition as well, some shotgun shell bandoleers for  _Ember Celica_ , smaller caliber rounds for  _Gambol Shroud_ , and the finger-long high-velocity sniper rounds for her  _Crescent Rose_.

Blake paused by the table, looking down at the assembled gear. "Is that different ammunition for your weapon?" she asked with a quiet, neutral voice.

The other three in the room perked up. It was the first words spoken by any of them to each other since they'd reunited, as if afraid to break the fragile peace that existed.

"Yeah," Ruby replied, her own voice just as quiet and perhaps even more devoid of emotion. "Upgraded her about a year ago." She put down the microbead she'd been examining and instead picked up one of the oversized rounds, holding up to the light as if searching for defects. "Expensive and custom, but they get the job done."

"Mmm." The Cat Faunus nodded and resumed her pacing.

Weiss stirred briefly, and against her better judgment spoke up carefully. "Isn't that a bit… excessive?"

The brunette looked over at her, and the shorter girl had to fight down the urge not to suck in a startled breath. It'd been the first time her former girlfriend had looked at her directly, and she was struck by the deadness in those cold, gunmetal-grey eyes.

"I carry a warscythe that can eviscerate a Goliath," she stated flatly. "My entire weapon is  _excessive_."

Weiss just nodded once and turned away again, unable to meet that callous gaze that seemed to bore into her. In her efforts to push aside her lingering guilt, she missed the very small smirk that flitted across Ruby's face, gone before it had even fully formed.

Yang caught it, though, and frowned briefly. She'd never gotten the full story on what had happened between the two, but obviously, there was bad blood there now. Her memories from when she was convalescing were hazy, but she vaguely remembered Ruby taking off for Atlas as soon as she woke up, only to return depressed and angry, emotions that were so foreign to the usually chipper brunette.

Not that the blonde had really been in a position to help, with her wallowing in self-pity and all. Yang snorted under her breath, pushing aside the memories that awoke unwanted feelings.

She stood, stretching her lean frame with her arms above her head before she dropped them with a  _whoosh_. "They got anything to drink around here?"

"Water," Ruby replied levelly without looking up.

Yang snorted again, audibly this time. "Fuckin' great."

The blonde's head turned, along with all of the others, as the door to the apartment opened to reveal a newcomer.

The young woman, of a height with Ruby and Yang, wore an unmarked black jumpsuit with what looked to be a military-issued pistol on her belt. She had a bob of short red hair that was covered by a soft service cap.

"Who are you?" Blake asked brusquely, edging towards the wall.

"Relax, kitty," the woman grinned, closing the door behind her and locking it. "Name's Nix, I'm your pilot. On loan from the Atlesian Special Forces, and totally discriminating. Meaning, I don't see or hear nothin'."

The raven-haired woman snarled quietly, her hand twitching towards  _Gambol Shroud_  nestled at her back. "Don't call me 'kitty'."

"Sorry, sorry," Nix replied easily, doffing her cap. Atop her head, a pair of red furry ears poked up inquisitively, taller than Blake's and undeniably marking her as a Faunus. "Solidarity and all that, y'know? I tend to tease without meaning to."

"Fox?" Ruby asked shortly, her flat grey eyes focused in on their support personnel.

"Um, yeah," the redhead replied, a little uneasy from the intensity of the gaze.

Ruby nodded once, gesturing first to herself and then around the room as she introduced everyone by their first names only.

The redheaded special ops pilot's malachite eyes focused in on Weiss in particular. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume you're the Weiss from Atlas, yeah?"

Nodding, the platinum-haired girl adjusted the cuffs of her blouse. "That is correct. Weiss Schnee."

"Huh." Nix gave her a tight grin. "Left quite the mess back home, might not wanna go back anytime soon."

"That would be my intention, yes," she replied dryly. "Er… this won't be a problem, will it?"

"Pfft, nah," Nix shook her head as she walked over to the vid unit, pulling down a panel and typing in a series of numbers on the exposed keypad. "Dust, I was cheering for you, honestly, busting the heads of all those uppity suits after you… well, y'know… left the SDC."

"I see," Weiss murmured, folding her hands in her lap once more.

"So, Nix," the blonde smirked as she flopped back onto her chair unconcernedly. "You know of a bar nearby?"

The Fox Faunus nodded, stepping back from the vid unit as the screen came to life. "Around the block to the north, decent enough place. Right now, though, we should be… Ah. Here we go."

The black screen was replaced by the image of Ozpin, seated behind his desk. He was in the process of leaning back as if he'd just enabled the feed from his end.

"Excellent," he began levelly. "I see we have everyone together."

Nix gave him a respectful nod and moved back to stand against the wall, replacing the cap atop her head once more. Blake ceased her pacing and came to a rest on the other side of the front door from Nix, in a position where she could see everyone else in the room, while the others remained in their seats.

"So, we finally gonna find out about this job you have for us?" Yang spoke up, turning so that one leg draped over the arm of her chair.

"That was my intention, yes," Ozpin replied calmly. He took a sip from his mug before resuming.

"Your objective is to first locate a particular man, a former Hunter by the name of Taupher Sas, and convince him to give you the name of the sole woman who had been on his team."

"That seems rather simple," Weiss frowned. "Can you not simply search the school records from where they graduated?"

"Her name has been scrubbed from all records," Ozpin replied simply, taking another sip from his mug.

Blake stood up straight. "You aren't telling us everything," she stated flatly. "The resources required to do this… To erase a person's records from  _everywhere_ , that's what you're implying, correct?"

"Yes, Blake, if you would allow me to finish." Ozpin gave the Faunus woman a brief smile before his face became somber and intent. "There is a shadow organization that exists, one of extreme power. And at the top of this organization exists corruption on an unimaginable scale, one which makes that of Cinder Fall seem to be a churchmouse amongst Grimm."

"That's… pretty intense," Yang murmured. "So, not beatin' around the bush any, what do you really want us to do here? Track down these guys, trace the chain of command to the top?"

"I wish it were that simple," Ozpin sighed. "Yes, in essence, that is the beginning of it, but ultimately you will need to root out this corruption."

"Well, that has certainly become a specialty of mine," Weiss smirked.

"Indeed, but this is on a much larger, much more dangerous scale." Ozpin leaned forward, his brown eyes peering at them through the vid feed. "I need the four of you to save the world."

"Save the world?" Blake scoffed. "Isn't that a bit dramatic?"

"Not at all." The Headmaster leaned back once more. "I was not exaggerating when I described the extent of this corruption. If unleashed, the scale of potential devastation would be on a level far above and beyond the Battle of Beacon. Perhaps more akin to the Great War."

At that, every assembled member sucked in a startled breath save for Ruby who simply sat up straighter. "So," the brunette interjected calmly. "We track down this Taupher guy. Get him to reveal his teammate, get to her and find out who pulls her strings. Keep going up the chain until, what, we reach the top? How will we know when we reach there?"

"You will know," Ozpin stated quietly. "The ones at the top will be those who do not fight, as their power is through less-physical means."

Yang sighed loudly, bringing her booted feet down to the floor with a loud  _clomp_. "Okay, so tracking ain't that big of a deal, but I gotta have something to go off of other than just a name. Got any place for us to start?"

"Yes, in fact, I do," Ozpin smiled slightly. "You will depart for Vacuo in the morning."

Nix nodded in agreement. "Wheels up at oh-eight-hundred."

"Any other questions?" He paused briefly before giving them a nod. "The safe house there has enough bedrooms for everyone. Nix will be staying with you as well. If there is nothing else, then Oum-speed to you all."

And with that, the screen went blank once more.

"Well," Yang exclaimed explosively, leaning back with her arms behind her head. "Shouldn't be too hard, tracking one guy down."

"I imagine it will end up being slightly more involved than that," Weiss commented mildly. "But yes, at least we have a name and location to go off of."

"Exactly! Should be a piece of cake, waltz in, snatch the guy, smack him around a little bit to get the name out of him…"

"Assuming you don't manage to kill him first," Blake murmured.

Yang sat up, her fists clenched at her sides as she bristled angrily. "Don't you even go there," she hissed, her lilac eyes shining with emotion. "I can control myself just fine. 'Sides which, I got nothing to say to a coward who ran from everything."

Blake stood away from the wall, her arms folded across her chest as her amber eyes remained unreadable. "You have no idea what I went through to keep you all safe," she growled.

"To keep us safe?" Yang laughed bitterly. Weiss and Nix both switched their gazes between the two of them as if they were watching a sporting match, while Ruby remained focused on the table before her, though her hands were stilled.

"Yes, precisely!" Blake retorted heatedly.

"You were my partner, my Dust-damned  _girlfriend_!" the blonde shouted, leaping up from the chair and trembling with rage. "And you left me bleeding and unconscious on the ground! You fucking  _left_  me, Blake!"

The more riled up Yang got, the calmer the Cat Faunus seemed to get. She leaned back against the wall, though her arms remained wrapped tightly around her middle. "I suppose this is a conversation that needed to happen sooner rather than later," she sighed.

"Might as well," Ruby interjected quietly without glancing up. "Clear the air."

"Right." Blake looked down at the floor pensively as Yang's anger seemed to slowly bleed away. "Adam told me, standing over me with his sword through my gut, that he was going to hurt everything, every _one_  I loved," she began quietly. "And then you rushed in, Yang, and he said he'd start with you."

She looked back up, and though there was pain there now, there were no tears, merely firm conviction. "I am sorry I abandoned you," Blake stated softly. "I am sorry I ran from you all, but I was hoping if I kept away then Adam wouldn't realize exactly who I cared for and wouldn't come after you. I was… I tried to keep you safe. To protect you."

Yang slowly sat back down, somewhat dumbfounded now that the reasoning behind her former girlfriend's departure was made clear. Ruby, though, turned in her seat to face the raven-haired woman.

"I had a feeling that might have been the case," the brunette said levelly. "But the reality is you didn't trust us enough to stay. You didn't trust in our abilities as your friends and teammates."

Blake nodded slowly. "That's true, I didn't. And I apologize for that as well. In the end, though, my decision didn't matter much as I fell in with them once more before I could truly escape from Vale. Though not by choice." She whispered the last part, her usual deadpan voice betraying her with a trace of sadness.

From her perch on the couch still, Weiss stirred uncertainly. "I don't understand how they would just accept you back like that anyway. Everything I've ever heard about the White Fang tells me that they do not hesitate to execute traitors."

This time, Blake shook her head, her face once more an unreadable mask. "They didn't  _just_  let me back in." She leaned away from the wall and turned, slipping her shirt over her head as she did so. Clearly visible, as she held her long raven hair to the side, were the small white scars that crisscrossed her back like some demented line artwork, covering her from her neckline, past her black bra strap, and then again down past the waistline of her pants.

"They had to beat me into submission first," the Cat Faunus continued, emotionless.

Both Weiss and Yang were shocked into silence, but Ruby immediately spoke up. "But they didn't really, did they?" the brunette murmured.

Blake turned back around, heedless of her exposure. "No, they didn't," she agreed.

"It looks so…" Weiss touched her own scar involuntarily as she winced. "Painful."

The raven-haired girl smirked at her former teammate. "Life  _is_  pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something." She turned then, shirt clenched in her hand as she walked towards the hallway leading to the bedrooms. "It's late, I'm going to get some sleep. Haven't had a real bed all that often lately."

After she walked out, Ruby calmly returned to the table she sat at, this time pulling out empty magazines for her weapon. She inserted one round at a time, the methodical  _clinks_  filling the silence of the room.

It didn't take long for Yang to leap back to her feet. "I'm gettin' a drink," she mumbled, storming out the front door.

"We leave early tomorrow." Ruby called out the reminder without turning around.

Yang paused at the threshold, her hand on the doorknob. "Fine," she gritted out before slamming the door shut.

Weiss stared at the brunette as she continued with her reloading.  _Clink. Clink. Clink._  Each sound was paced and precise.

"Well," the platinum-haired girl stated softly as she rose to her feet. "I suppose… I will turn in as well."

"You do that," Ruby replied flatly, her gaze and hand movements unwavering.

Weiss stood there for a couple of heartbeats, her mouth parting slightly and then closing again before she turned on her heel and marched out of the room.

When she heard the bedroom door close, Ruby stopped her work and grinned somewhat sardonically, still looking down. "We're a mess, huh?"

"A mess?" Nix murmured incredulously. "You lot are a fucking  _disaster_."

Ruby snorted softly, tossing her completed magazines into the duffel bag. "So what's the deal with these communicators?"

"The microbeads?" Nix stepped forward from where she'd been lurking against the back wall and picked up one of the transmitters in question. "They're connected to each other, instant communication. Just verbalize my name to open a channel to me as well, I'll be on-call for the duration of this mission. I can pick you up from anywhere, anytime."

"Handy," Ruby murmured. "And I see we've been issued new scrolls."

"Correct, the login screen indicates who they belong to. You have each other's number as well as mine in there, and Ozpin's private line. They're untraceable by normal law enforcement means."

"Great. Well…" Ruby finally stood up and stretched, her black cloak falling across her back like a dark shroud. "I'll head to bed too. Unless you want some company tonight?"

Nix gaped at her, mouth opening and closing a few times before she shook her head. "Um, no, thanks but… I'm not into girls."

"Eh, your loss." Ruby shrugged unconcernedly as she picked up the duffel with all of the comms and ammo, cloak billowing behind her as she headed down the hallway.

The redheaded Fox Faunus was left alone in the middle of the room. "Oh, yeah," she murmured sarcastically. "This gig is gonna go  _great_ , I can tell already."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** So, little more background here and some info on the mission itself. I'm going to open up each chapter with a flashback, just to give an insight into what happened in the past six years. And yeah, there's some obvious contention between the former couples. Oh, and hey, an OC! Haven't introduced a new one in some time, there might be a few others especially for bad guys (since I've managed to kill most of them off before the story even began, though I might bring in some of the Season 4 baddies to beef up the competition) but Nix will be the only regular. I got the idea for her from _The Rogue Rose_ by **xxnarwhalxx** , but the personalities of the two OCs will differ significantly.
> 
> And speaking of which, I'm sure yet another change in personality has been noted, that of Ruby's casual proposition towards Nix as she headed to bed. Yep, she's changed a bit, and that will come up later. For now, though, the girls are off to Vacuo to hunt.
> 
> Stay shiny!


	3. Chapter 3

**Vale  
** **Five Years Ago**

Blake crouched on her hands and knees, panting heavily as the blood dripped onto the concrete below her in a steady patter. Her nose hadn't been broken, so far as she could tell, but that last hit to her face took the remainder of her aura with it, along with any lingering thoughts of resistance.

What was the point, really? She'd been so close to the docks, to finally escaping towards Menagerie… towards home...

"You've grown weak," the familiar voice sneered from close by. "Pathetic, dulled and diluted from your dalliance with those Humans."

The Faunus girl coughed, sending more spatters of blood onto the ground below her. Suddenly, there was an excruciating pain in her abdomen and she found herself airborne, only to fetch up against the brick wall of the narrow alleyway. She slid down to the dirty ground once again, unable to even hold herself upright.

Sweet blackness encroached upon the edges of her vision, though she received no such respite. Blake let out a howl of pain as her head was yanked upwards by her left Faunus ear, twisted cruelly in a hand that was once, long ago, much kinder to her.

Blinking back tears of agony, she looked up into the mask of her tormentor.

"How disappointing," Adam scowled. He let go of her, allowing her face to hit the pavement. She couldn't hold back a piteous  _mewl_  as she felt the bones in her lower leg grind where they'd broken or the sharp pain from the ribs that must have cracked from the Bull Faunus' powerful kick.

"Just… kill me… already…" she gasped, barely audible.

"Kill you? I suppose I could, yes…" Dark chuckling broke out from the other White Fang members who gathered around like the proverbial wolf pack, circling the wounded prey that they had finally tracked down. "I think, though, given our past, my darling… I shall give you a choice."

His pacing ceased, and he crouched down by her head. She rolled her face upwards just enough to peer at him with the one eye not already swollen shut.

"I'll let you come back to us," he said, mouth widening into a cruel smirk. "Rejoin your family once more."

At his offer, the laughter cut off from the others as if a switch had been thrown. Adam ignored it blithely. He had every right to do as he pleased, his word was law within the Valesian chapter of the White Fang.

Her former mentor and lover merely crouched by her broken and bleeding body, waiting for an answer. But what choice did she have, really? Join or die. Come back to the terrorist organization that she'd worked so hard to escape from, or simply be no more.

She might have considered herself a coward, but she wasn't prepared to die just yet. Otherwise, she would have simply taken her own life many months ago and saved herself the ignominy of her exile from everyone she once considered a friend.

"Fine," she gritted out reluctantly, teeth now clenched against the pain.

Adam stood back up with a low, quiet laugh. "Welcome back, then, my love. However, when all is said and done… You just might've wished you'd chosen death by the time we're finished teaching you the folly of ever leaving the White Fang."

As her spirits plummeted, she felt a pair of Faunus grab her by her upper arms and haul her upright. The sudden movement jarred her injuries, and with a sharp scream she finally, mercifully, blacked out.

It was perhaps the last time she was allowed such an escape from the torments to come.

**En Route to Vacuo  
** **Today**

Blake had been to Vacuo several times in the past, exclusively on assignment for the White Fang. Sometimes via commercial flights, often enough smuggled in with a squad of grunts in the belly of a cargo airship, and once even on a stolen SDC corporate watercraft.

This, though… This was traveling in  _style._

Her amber eyes roamed the interior of their Bulldog, a couple hours into the flight. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting from an Atlesian Special Ops vehicle, but the luxury certainly wasn't part of that expectation. The seats were pleasantly upholstered for long trips and there was even a minifridge built in. Granted, it contained blood and plasma as well as water bottles, but still. A far cry from the commercial and military Bulldogs she'd flown in over the past.

The Cat Faunus had gotten a brief look inside the cockpit before they'd taken off and had been equally impressed with what she saw there as well. Highly advanced, state-of-the-art communications suite and navigation, a plush pilot's seat, and additional switches, buttons, and levers that she had no idea the function of. Likely having something to do with their Bulldog's stealth capabilities.

In any case, she was becoming a bit more comfortable with this entire operation. If only she could sort out her feelings for her companions and former friends.

Without turning her head from the window next to her seat, her gaze flickered around the bay. Weiss was directly across from her, and Yang on the opposite side, the both of them staring sightlessly out at the landscape that flowed by, lost in their own thoughts.

Weiss, she knew fairly well where she stood. At first, she'd wondered if the ex-heiress might have fallen back on her anti-Faunus upbringing, but there was no trace of derision or hostility there. Mostly just wariness, perhaps even an undercurrent of discomfort. The latter she had an idea of, but it wasn't quite the time yet to point out the hypocrisy of her activities over the last year. No, that would come when, if ever, they were more comfortable around each other. She'd considered Weiss a friend, once, though it was a fight to get to that point. Perhaps now would be less contentious.

_And speaking of contentious…_

Her blonde former lover was clenching and unclenching her artificial hand as if the motion kept it from seizing up. Her enhanced hearing could easily pick up on the whirring of gears over the sound of the Bulldog's engines. Blake sighed softly, unable to conjure up any cohesive memories of their time as a couple, they all blurred together at this point. Love and laughter, tears and fighting. They'd been on again, off again for most of the few months they had dated, but still, there had been something there. Something valuable that Blake had lost track of, unable to clutch it to her chest during her months of torment among the White Fang or afterward.

She hadn't deserved it, a light so bright and warm that banished the shadows from her heart and soul. Someone who had lightened her mood with an easy laugh, a simple touch, or a fond look.

She  _was_  the shadows. It was where she belonged. And in any case, Blake simply couldn't summon up any of those feelings anymore for the person who now sat in front of her, so unlike her former self. Yang was broken, not just by the loss of her arm, and the Faunus woman wasn't sure if that part would ever resurface.

They'd all changed over the past six years. No longer eager, bright-eyed, idealistic teenagers, they were all hardened and cynical. But no more so than their former leader, that much was certain. The brunette girl even gave  _her_  pause, and she considered herself to have seen horrors unfit for any mortal to witness or partake of.

Her Faunus ears twitched as she finally broke from her musings to pay attention to her instincts, the ones murmuring to her that she was currently under observation.

Blake turned her head and caught Ruby, sitting across the row from her and against the other window, staring at her. Instead of looking away, they both kept their gazes locked until the brunette gave her a slow nod and a very slight smirk before turning to face the window again.

She frowned as she did the same, gazing out at the desert that was now flying past them as they approached their destination.

_What was_ _**that** _ _all about, then?_

Though the brunette's background had been cleared up somewhat from Ozpin's reading of her file, plenty of questions remained. The fact that the formerly chipper and bubbly girl had killed so soon after setting out for Mistral, and hadn't stopped there, was cause for consideration. The look in her eyes, once the color of lively quicksilver and now a flat, emotionless grey, actually reminded her of when she looked into a mirror, an activity she tried to avoid. Her amber eyes, once able to convey emotion where her words could, or would, not, were now hard and glittering.

Perhaps she and Ruby were now more alike than she'd realized.

Her mind drifted to the details that Ozpin had inadvertently revealed, particularly concerning the brutality of Roman Torchwick's death. It made her quirk a slight smile, tinged with a bit of envy that it had been Ruby and not herself responsible for the loathsome man's demise.

And then there was Adam…

Certainly, she was grateful for the removal of her tormentor and leash-holder. She'd lost any feelings she once entertained towards the man, and in fact found solace where she could in the temporary arms of other, more often than not newer, members within the White Fang. Purely physical comfort to offset the physical pain she was so often faced with.

Mentally and emotionally, she remained isolated behind her bastion that she'd erected for herself to keep sane. She didn't have the time nor the energy for such a luxury as  _feelings_  anymore.

She glanced forward as their pilot spoke up over the speaker system.

"We're down in fifteen," Nix reported. "I have a hanger to hide this baby in and a van to take us to the safe house. I think you guys will like it."

If the Fox Faunus was disturbed by a lack of response, she didn't show it. The redhead had proven to be fairly easy-going and lackadaisical about such things, retaining a cheerful but professional attitude.

Still, she was an unknown. And thus had yet to earn her trust.

Their landing at the outskirts of Vacuo went smoothly enough. They waited until the Bulldog was parked inside the nondescript hanger that opened automatically and closed in much the same manner before disembarking.

Blake glanced over her shoulder as they walked towards the waiting van, admiring the sleek black lines of their armored yet unarmed transport.  _Yes, I can definitely get used to this._

Nothing was said between them as Nix drove, though they all were paying close attention to their surroundings through the dark-tinted windows. The raven-haired Faunus, through well-honed instincts, had already mentally mapped her way back to the hanger were she to be separated and in need of extraction. In addition, she noted how the fairly well-to-do environs of the neighborhoods they drove through became progressively more luxurious.

She was about to open her mouth to question Nix when the van slowed, turning into a driveway that was gated. As they approached, the functional and sturdy gates retracted, allowing them access.

"Whoa," Yang breathed from the front passenger seat. "Nice digs."

" _This_  is our safehouse?" Weiss asked from the rear seat. Seeing Nix's wordless nod, she pursed her lips. "Impressive."

 _Impressive_  didn't truly begin to cover it. The mansion looming ahead of them was three floors high, the bottom windows fortified but no more than a normally-paranoid rich person would require.

As Nix parked and the five of them rolled out of the vehicle, the Fox Faunus walked backwards up the steps with a smirk on her face.

"Top level is training, including a gym and weapons maintenance. Even a soundproof firing range. Middle floor is bedrooms, bottom floor is living area, kitchen, conference room, and pool access."

"Did you say  _pool access_?" the blonde grinned. "This job is gettin' better by the minute!"

They entered through the wide doors which closed noiselessly behind them. Weiss let out a low whistle.

"It's been awhile," she said softly, her pale blue eyes wide.

Blake shook her head ruefully.  _You can take the heiress title from the girl, but you can't take the girl from the heiress._

Ruby dropped her bags by the wide staircase at the other end of the open, spacious foyer lined with marble flooring and rich, dark wood paneling. "Before we settle in, let's meet, alright? Nix, conference room, please?"

The redhead nodded and led them towards a side door, opening it with a flourish. Blake dropped her single, small bag with the others. It had thoughtfully been packed for her and waiting in her room at the previous safehouse, consisting of a few changes of clothes in her size, all in black, some toiletries, and a couple of paperbacks that she'd not read since Beacon.

 _Wish I knew who to thank for that,_  she mused as she followed the others into a large, open but windowless room with one enormous table in the middle, seating fourteen comfortably.

Ruby stood at the head of the table, her palms pressed to the surface. Though Yang and Weiss took seats, the former tipping her chair back indolently while the latter sat with her usual perfect posture, Blake remained standing as well, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

"You want me to stay or leave?" Nix asked without any trace of rancor.

The brunette considered her for a moment. "Stay," she finally answered tersely. Ruby then glanced around at the others, her gaze not lingering on any one of their group any longer than she had to. "We should get right to work. Anyone have any sort of contacts over here?"

Weiss nodded primly. "I have one that I've worked with in the past, though we've never met. I hope you don't mind if I don't reveal his name."

Raising her hand in acceptance, her former partner and girlfriend gave her a nod. "That's fine, your business is your own. Yang?"

"Nothin' specific," the blonde shrugged, her gaze still on the conference table surface. "But I've found you can always dig up info in the right places."

"Right." Ruby stared at her sister flatly for a moment or two. "I'll just leave you to that, then. Blake?"

The Faunus woman nodded. "Yes, there are some resources the White Fang would use over here, one of which I might still be able to access."

Ruby returned her nod before raising a questioning eyebrow at Nix, who raised her hands defensively.

"Sorry, no, I'm not that kinda operative," the redhead grinned disarmingly. "Just the pilot, though I can help with planning and logistics."

"Fair enough. I doubt we're going to want to spend much time out in the open, can you procure some meals for us?" Ruby looked down at her hands thoughtfully. "Also some rope, a battery with the leads attached, a bucket… Hmm… Oh, duct tape too, please. I'm sure I can find everything else I need around the house."

Blake's eyebrows crawled up on her forehead. She was fully cognizant of the uses for such instrumentation, having used them plenty of times herself, though she'd never have imagined her former team leader knowing their use. She wondered if the others had any idea.

Sure enough, Weiss was the first to speak up. "What do you need those last items for?" she asked with a trace of asperity.

Ruby shot her a small, humorless smirk. "Getting our new friend Taupher to talk."

The platinum-haired woman paled slightly as her mouth formed a silent "Oh," while Yang just grimaced, not moving her gaze an inch.

"Okay, then, let's go. I don't have anyone here, my first time in Vacuo actually," Ruby admitted wryly. "So I'll tag along with Blake if that's okay?"

"Certainly," the raven-haired woman agreed levelly.

They set out on foot shortly thereafter. The weather was cool enough that they were fine with their usual dress, and they cut quite the imposing sight, black cloak and overcoat trailing behind them as they walked. Fortunately, it wasn't too far to reach downtown Vacuo and the industrial sector, perhaps a half hour or so. A half hour spent in silence, neither one of them willing to break their uneasy state of peace.

Eventually, though, she had to voice a question that had been on her mind, as it would pertain to their operation. She glanced over at the woman striding along by her side.  _I will not get used to her being slightly taller than me now._ "May I ask something?"

Ruby seemed to give herself a shake, though she'd been looking around at their surrounding probingly. "Yeah, sure."

"When you were… going after Adam, were you discovered? Your identity, I mean, by the White Fang?"

The brunette pursed her lips in thought. "I don't believe so, no. Killed any of them I came across."

"Oh, I see."

Ruby glanced aside at her. "Is that a problem?"

"No! Certainly not, I just…" Blake chewed on her bottom lip momentarily. "If you had been identified, I wasn't around long enough to hear about it. As soon as I heard… about Adam, I left. But, that would cause difficulties with who we are to meet. She won't mind my having left the White Fang, but she'd be hostile towards anyone who had deliberately killed them if she knew their identity."

"Fair enough," Ruby nodded. "I won't say anything, I can just follow your lead. By the way, how long are we gonna ignore our tail?"

Blake smirked. "I was waiting to see how long it would take for you to notice."

"Wasn't too hard, not like he's that stealthy. Saw him four blocks ago."

"Mmm." Blake nodded serenely. "I saw him six blocks ago."

Ruby snorted softly. "Show-off."

"Do remember I've been doing this for most of my life."

"Right, right… Parking lot up ahead?"

The Faunus woman nodded once more. "Seems a likely place as any for an ambush. Oh, yes, I see them now. Do you have a plan?"

Ruby grinned, her expression dark and rather bloodthirsty. "How about I soften them up for you?"

"Acceptable." At that, just as they reached the outer edge of the shaded parking lot, she slipped into the shadows and effectively disappeared from view. Her Faunus ears caught Ruby's additional snort.

"Show-off," the brunette repeated quietly before strolling along right into the fire zone, her black cloak billowing around her.

Blake's amber eyes, the only portion of her visible from the shadows, peered around intently as she circled the area. The lot was only half-full of employee vehicles from the nearby factory, and the sun was hanging just behind the rooftop giving the entire area a decent amount of shade. The area was bordered on two sides by tall buildings, and as it sat on a corner had a street running along the other two sides. Ruby was cutting straight through the parking lot, seemingly indifferent to the ambushers who crouched, waiting for some signal.

Their tail appeared and paused, his head whipping around, evidently trying to find where Blake had disappeared to. Grinning, the Faunus woman emerged from the shadows behind him, slipping her katana around his neck and neatly slicing his throat before fading back away again. His limp body fell soundlessly behind a large grey groundcar.

Her semblance had been evolving for some time, but she'd learned during her flight after the Battle of Beacon how she could solidify one of her clones around her, essentially making her invisible in the shadows. It was a handy trick, particularly against those without the enhanced senses of Faunus.

Ruby had paused in the middle of the lot, her cowled head bowed as if she were patiently waiting. Evidently growing tired of looking for Blake, the group decided to spring their ambush, and six men lurched forward with deadly-looking assault rifles trained on the spot where Ruby stood.

Only, now it was empty.

"The fuck did she go?" one of the men, clad in paramilitary fatigues, barked out, swinging his gun around wildly.

"Stay frosty!" another ordered. "She can't have-"

The man, evidently the leader by the beret atop his scalp as opposed to the others' service caps, was suddenly cut off by a breeze that blew by him, not disturbing anything else save for a few dark red rose petals the color of dried blood which drifted to the ground. And then both of his arms, still clutching his rifle and severed just above the elbows, clattered to the ground, followed by his upper torso. His lower torso, just from the stomach down, stood in place for a moment before it, too, toppled to the side.

"Shit!" another soldier cried out. "Where did that come from?"

"Circle up!" the first one ordered, evidently next on the chain of command, though he was trembling like a leaf. "Defensive formation!"

The five remaining pulled together into a circle, though just as the last one turned in place his head was separated from his shoulders in a spray of blood. The fine mist drifted in the direction of the breeze that seemingly sliced through him, air made into a knifelike weapon.

"Dust-fucking-dammit!" another cried out.

"Calm down, and keep a watch out!" The first one lowered his head to the radio clipped to his chest, seemingly in contact with his superiors for more instructions.

The breeze returned, this time by Blake's side, and Ruby was there. The brunette showed the first sign of life that she'd seen since their reunion, her face alight with devilish glee. Even her gunmetal grey eyes seemed more lively.

"All yours, Blake," her companion grinned.

The raven-haired girl nodded, not questioning how Ruby was able to pick her out of the shadows. That was a conversation for later, but right now, it was time to act on the fear now bubbling from the throats of the four remaining ambushers.

With a flex of her will, four shadow clones darted out of the darkness, one for each man. Simultaneously they panicked, firing wildly, though the shots did little real harm to the extensions of her semblance. She directed them in, slashing and cutting viciously. They did less damage than she herself would, but it was enough to disorient and distract from her main attack.

As her independent shadow clones dissolved from the counterattacks, the former ambushers now bleeding and battered, Blake herself leapt, propelled upwards by the very shadows themselves. She spun in mid-air high over their heads, somersaulting to drop on noiseless feet in the center of the panicking men, grinning wickedly as she took in their helpless state before she struck.

 _Gambol Shroud_  flashed about, eviscerating one man when she hooked her blade around his torso. The cleaver sheath she swiped behind her, severing another's spine and collapsing him with a scream. By this point the other pair were just becoming aware of the threat from behind, but as she rose her sword whipped around in an arc, decapitating the last two.

Her grin unabating, she plunged her sword into the back of the first man's skull who was on his knees, desperately scrabbling at his belly to keep his entrails inside of him. As the blade slid back out with a wet  _crunch_ , she turned to regard the last man, whining piteously as he struggled to move, unable to feel anything below his ribcage.

"Do you want to do the honors?" she murmured, flinging both sword and sheath to the sides to remove the blood.

Another breeze caused her Faunus ears to flick, and then Ruby was crouched down at the side of the paralyzed man.

"Nice work," she commented nonchalantly. "I'll let you handle him while I contact the others, okay?"

"Thank you," Blake replied to both the praise and the offer. As Ruby stepped aside, murmuring a warning into her microbead communicator to the others on the team, Blake stepped over and flipped the man onto his back.

"Now then," she purred, pointing her blade at his sternum. He ceased his struggles, motionless save for his eyes which tracked the movement of the sword's tip as it crept up to rest pointing at the bridge of his nose, where he stared at it cross-eyed. "We're going to start with some easy questions. Wrong answers will get a piece of you removed. I might even be considerate enough to start with the parts you can't feel, but we won't have much time before the authorities arrive. So do try to help speed this up, hmm?"

The terrified man nodded warily, his eyes never leaving the sword tip.

"Excellent." Blake's grin stretched from ear to ear, giving him no reassurance whatsoever. "Now, then, about those who hired you to ambush us…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** I'm going to be switching up the perspectives somewhat as we go. For example, the last chapter wasn't from any one singular point of view, nor were we privy to many of their thoughts. But here, we got to hear some of Blake's musings. I'll be doing something similar throughout, and while the changeovers might be subtle I think it will be evident for each section. Just be aware I will not often do an entire chapter from one perspective, and sometimes it might switch about.
> 
> Stay shiny!


	4. Chapter 4

**Atlas  
** **One Year Ago**

Weiss sat in the high-backed chair, the very picture of calm and restraint. She was aware that her new scar, having been received just a few days prior, was still bright and pink on her cheek, but she didn't mind overmuch. It was poetic, in a way. Both of the scars that now crisscrossed her features were received from her father. She no longer regarded her first scar as a disfigurement. No, it was a badge of honor, that she'd survived, and with the new scar, she wordlessly announced to all how she was now finally free.

Pacing in front of her, exhibiting considerably less aplomb, was her older sister, Winter. They were meeting in the office of the CEO, the office that she'd worked so hard over the past few years to attain.

The office that had been unceremoniously yanked out from under her by the traitorous weaklings of the SDC Board of Directors, newly reinstated with the same cronies her father had put into place. Evidently, they preferred an unknown quantity leading them rather than a proven, though combative, one.

"I cannot believe you," Winter hissed, her pale face flushed. This was the first time they'd spoken since the duel, and even before then it had been a year or so since they'd communicated. Weiss had actually done that on purpose, tried to keep her sister isolated from what she was doing. Her younger brother Whitley was a known factor, unproven in the eyes of the board and so not yet a threat, but was still the likeliest candidate other than herself to take over the company. Hence her parallel campaign to paint him in as incompetent a light as possible over the past few years. It should have been a simple matter, with Winter off in the Atlesian military as a Specialist. And yet…

And yet here they were.

"I don't know why you're surprised," Weiss retorted levelly. "You know how he was."

"I know what you pushed him towards!" Winter replied angrily, whirling around to face her younger sister. "Did you really think he would just give up his company so easily?"

" _Easily_?" Weiss barked out a bitter laugh. "You have no idea how hard I've worked over the past five years to overthrow that man. The dealings, the subtle sabotage of his projects… Funneling budgets into my areas of control… No, Winter, I never expected him to give it up  _easily_." She stood, still shorter than her sister by several inches, but the cold fury that shone from her pale blue eyes gave her stature. "I expected him to be defeated soundly and by my hand."

The elder Schnee sibling recoiled slightly. "You… Did you  _plan_  on this? Did you actually  _want_  him to duel you?"

Weiss smiled coldly, taking her seat once more. "It was one of several possible, and acceptable, outcomes, yes. As usual, he underestimated how far I've come or the depths of my determination."

Letting out a slow breath, Winter turned and retreated back behind the mammoth white desk, lowering herself into the plush and matching leather chair.  _My chair,_  she thought with only a trace of bitterness.  _That should have been my chair, finally._

"So you went into that duel, prepared to kill our father."

Weiss nodded slightly, just a minute incline of her head. "I merely met him with an equivalent lethality."

Winter glanced down at the desktop before meeting her gaze once more, the hereditary pale blue eyes distant. "But you didn't plan on the Board."

Frowning slightly, Weiss sighed. "No, I did not. They should have remained a non-factor, especially after father had dissolved them… It would appear that they were his contingency plan, in case I won."

"Indeed." Winter leaned forward, steepling her fingers on the desk surface. "Weiss… I know how you must feel about this…"

_Do you, sister of mine? Do you truly know how furious I am at the corrupt cronies that rolled over for a dead man, just to spite me?_

"...But please, please do not go against their wishes in this." Winter sighed heavily. "Allow me to rebuild the SDC from the ruin you and father have left it."

Weiss nodded as she stood once more, her posture and face betraying none of her feelings. "I will depart the SDC as instructed," she agreed calmly. "My shares have already been liquidated and my access revoked." The platinum-haired woman adjusted the bottom of her suit jacket. "So I suppose this is goodbye, then."

"It doesn't have to be," Winter whispered with a trace of desperation, perhaps heeding a sense of foreboding in regards to what Weiss might be planning next. "We… The injunction merely pertains to the SDC, not us."

"But you  _are_ the SDC now, CEO Winter Schnee," she returned, careful to remove any trace of spite or chagrin from her voice. "Congratulations. Give my regards to the family."

With that, she spun on her heel and departed the office for the elevator. Guards were waiting in the lobby to escort her off of the premises, but she steadfastly ignored their very presence.

As she entered the back seat of her private car, ordering her driver towards her safe house on the edge of the city, she sat back and finally allowed her face to tighten in anger.

_Fine, you want me out so badly? I'll simply return to the shadows and fight the corruption that forced me out and defeated me just on the cusp of my victory over my father, may he rot in a hole._

_You will_ _**all** _ _regret this._

**Downtown Vacuo  
** **Today**

The platinum-haired girl strode determinedly down the sidewalk of downtown Vacuo. Though her stature was diminutive, the steely glint in her pale blue eyes combined with the regal way she held herself and the slender rapier at her belt caused most pedestrians to outright swerve out of her way.

Her white overcoat was unbuttoned, showing the silken light blue blouse she wore over crisp white pants. The sounds of her boot heels clacking against the pavement were as good a warning as any to those in her way. Move, or be moved.

While outwardly focused and purposeful, inside she was anything but. Her mind had been a veritable maelstrom ever since she'd been reunited with her old team. With… Ruby.

Most puzzling to her were the emotions that the brunette now evoked. While once she was the dominant force in their relationship, though she most assuredly did love the excitable girl when they were younger, now…

_Now I feel nothing but guilt… and fear._

Those flat grey eyes, the dispassionate way Ruby dealt with those who had once been closest to her… Frankly, it unnerved her. Weiss pondered on what she'd learned regarding her ex-lover's actions while she herself was engaged in brutal and bloody corporate warfare. The body count the brunette had personally amassed was likely far greater than hers, enough so that she seemed callous about the taking of life.

Consequently, the former heiress was forced to confront her own past actions, and she didn't really like what she saw.

 _Have I lost some of my humanity as well?_  She frowned slightly as she turned a corner, several blocks still from her destination.  _Taking a life used to be so… so abhorrent to me, and yet I have unhesitatingly done so on numerous occasions._

She remembered the faces still, those who succumbed to her blade. All were trying to take her own life, of course, but that didn't ease the twinges of guilt she still felt when she saw them in her mind's eye as she tried to sleep at night.

_I wonder if Ruby even has an accurate count of those she's killed. Or Blake, for that matter._

Frowning once more, Weiss realized she'd hit upon the crux of her current dilemma. Annoying as they could be at times, her former team had been her friends, dear ones, in fact. And yet six years had changed them all so much. Was the glimmer of humanity she felt creeping back into her chest just an illusion? Could she even begin to comprehend what Ruby and Blake had turned into, the years of violence and bloodshed that would make an experienced Hunter quail?

 _How is it,_  she mused,  _that the one I now feel closest to is Yang? What an odd reversal..._

The brash blonde had always been arrogant and loud, relentlessly teasing the platinum-haired girl. Said teasing only increased once she was dating, and sleeping, with her little sister. Granted, that was better than the outright violence that she'd feared, but the oaf had certainly been at the bottom of her regard on the team, even if she could at times show a warmer, nurturing side.

_And now she just seems so… broken. I understand that, though, I went through the same, though not in a physical manner. I wonder which was worse, her losing her arm or the loss of my own self-worth?_

She paused, glancing up at the street signs on the corner. She'd memorized the directions to where she might find her contact but had neglected to use her scroll to visually trace the route. With a sigh, Weiss turned down the alley that would cut across to the main street she needed.

Instead of an avenue, however, she ended up in a wide concrete cul-de-sac, apparently used for the loading docks at the nearby warehouse. The area was deserted, suspiciously so.

She hadn't survived the numerous corporate assassination attempts over the years without finely honing her danger sense, and right now it was screaming at her.

_Well, then, let's spring their little trap and see who we're dealing with, shall we?_

Weiss stood in the middle of the concrete courtyard, surrounded by towering brick structures. She strained her aura, eyes closed, and picked up on furtive steps approaching. The alleyway she'd just left seemingly had the most, while the broader entrance to the loading docks contained perhaps only three men.

_Divide and conquer._

Her ice-blue eyes flashed dangerously as they opened,  _Myrtenaster_  whipping out from its place at her side. She hadn't made any modifications to her weapon other than increasing the Dust capacity and make the triggering mechanism faster and more reliable. Switching over to her blue chamber, she twirled, sending a blast out behind her to seal the alleyway off. Immediate shouts of alarm indicated they were close enough to see her actions, but that was of little consequence.

Spinning once more, this time in a crouch, she allowed an eager grin to flit across her face as a white glyph formed at her feet. The platinum-haired woman shot forward like a bullet, slashing out as she went. Two men, clad in paramilitary fashion with deadly-looking assault rifles, crumpled to the ground in a heap without a sound. The third stared at her, shock plastered across his features as he fumbled his rifle into position.

With a haughty sneer, Weiss batted the rifle out of his hands and kicked him in the chest. The aura-assisted strike sent him flying back against the wall, to be anchored there by another blast of ice.

_Now, then, for the main force._

She turned and strolled nonchalantly back into the cul-de-sac. Her ice barricade was broken down by this point by eight men and women dressed the same as the ones she'd just faced.

Weiss sighed.  _Not much of a challenge, really. Ah, well, at least I got to stretch my legs a bit._

"I'm terribly sorry," she called out to the would-be ambushers as they spread out, weapons at the ready. "I have somewhere I need to be. It'd be awfully rude of me to leave you without entertainment, though."

A complicated white glyph formed behind her, twice her height. Out of it stepped a towering beast, one that struck fear into the hearts of those before her, their rifles shaking in unsteady hands.

The Alpha Beowolf leaned over so that its massive snout was at the same level as Weiss' head. She reached back and scratched it affectionately under its chin. "Have fun, sweetheart," she cooed.

Turning, she ignored the screams of terror that quickly turned into howls of agony easily heard over the sporadic gunfire. Several steps took her to the struggling man she'd contained earlier.

"Now, then," she stated calmly. "You have a choice. Tell me who hired you to ambush me, and I let you down. If not… well, my pet won't be satisfied with your friends for very long."

The wiry man's eyes were bugged out in fear. Weiss' nose wrinkled at the acrid smell of him voiding his bowels. Needless to say, he was soon babbling everything he knew. Which, admittedly, wasn't much, but it was enough to spare his pathetic existence.

A Schnee never goes back on her word.

Her summoned Grimm dispelled, she proceeded onto the next street, marveling how the incident hadn't brought any sort of law enforcement upon her head.  _Vacuo has its merits, I suppose,_ she smirked.

Before she could enter the apartment building of her contact, her earpiece chirped.

"Weiss, this is Ruby. Blake and I were ambushed by several paramilitary types."

She frowned slightly.  _Not used to working with others, I should have thought to do that._  "Yes, I was just ambushed as well. Are… Are you both well?"

"No injuries. You?"

Weiss shivered slightly at the cold, uncaring way the brunette posed the terse question as if she were merely checking on a piece of machinery, that it was still able to function.

"I'm fine, thank you," she replied through numb lips. "Heading to my contact now."

"Right. We'll regroup as planned."

And with that, the transmission ended. The platinum-haired woman sighed, pushing her misgivings to the back of her head once more.

Squaring her shoulders, the former heiress resumed her cold and haughty expression, the one that was expected of her, and entered the building.

**Vacuo Safehouse**

They reassembled for dinner, one Nix had thoughtfully prepared for them. It featured the spicy meats and vegetables that the locals were famous for, but had some freshly-caught fish as well. Blake dove into the latter with abandon, while Weiss delicately sampled a little bit of everything, her bites small and measured.

Yang, having been the last one to stumble in and obviously inebriated, took a huge plateful of the meats with only a small sampling of veggies. Ruby and Nix, sitting side by side, seemed content with far less meat and a healthy portion of the greens.

The first to finish, Ruby pushed her plate away and wiped her mouth on a napkin. "Appreciate the meal, Nix," she said, a trace of warmth in her now-usual cold demeanor.

"No problem," the pilot said cheerfully. "I like to cook, it's one of my talents."

"You don't say," the brunette deadpanned. Her flat grey eyes bore into the Fox Faunus, who for some reason blushed as she sat her fork down.

"Um, yeah… That is, I'm a medic too, so there's, y'know, that…" She cleared her throat and busily went about cleaning her face off.

Weiss looked at the redhead, brow furrowed.  _Now what is with that reaction?_

Before she could pry, Ruby turned towards her estranged sister next. "Yang, no ambushes?"

"Nope, didn't get to kick anyone's ass," the blonde mumbled around her mouthful of beef. She swallowed and issued an abashed apology.

Ruby just gazed at her levelly without any reaction. "Did you find out anything today?"

"Um, no, sorry, didn't uncover a thing."

The brunette stared at Yang for a few moments longer before turning to Weiss, one eyebrow arched in question.

"My contact didn't have much," she admitted. "Taupher Sas isn't a person who has run with any of the organized criminal elements here in Vacuo, but he was able to identify the name of the employer of my attackers. Alistair Black is a major player, but very secretive, in the underbelly of Vacuo. Mostly racketeering and smuggling."

"That's the same name we got from our ambushers," Blake spoke up in her customary monotone. "I was able to get a connection between the two, however."

"Oh?" Weiss prompted, eyebrows raised regally.

"Alistair Black and Taupher Sas were friends at Shade Academy here."

"Not the same team, though?"

"No."

Weiss nodded slowly. "So, then, we can assume they are working together."

"I think that's a safe assumption," Ruby agreed, though her voice contained no eagerness for their breakthrough. "Did your contact have an idea of where we can find Black?"

"Yes, I have an address of a warehouse by the docks."

"Good. We hit them tonight, then, if they're smugglers I'm sure they'll be occupied and, more importantly, all present."

The five of them retired to the living area on the same floor where a planning table was set up. Weiss made a few calls on her scroll and managed to procure the floor plans for the warehouse. It wasn't all that out of the ordinary, with only two entrances to worry about.

"We'll pair up," Ruby stated softly as she stared at the map. "Weiss and Blake take the rear entrance, Yang and I the front. We'll pin them down between us. No killing unless it's absolutely necessary, as we don't know what Taupher looks like yet."

"No stealth?" Blake asked without inflection from her chair.

"Nope." Ruby stepped back and plopped into another cushioned chair. "No need, we go in hard and loud, draw everyone out. Just make sure nobody gets past you. Sing out if you find someone who could be our target."

Weiss frowned as her gaze flickered around her former teammates.  _Though I should stop referring to them by the past tense, like it or not we're a team once more._  Not knowing the identity of their target was troubling.

There didn't seem to be anything else to say, so Weiss stepped back to sit on the end of the couch where Nix was perched. She crossed her legs demurely, lost in thought. The silence stretched on between them all, save for the rustling of fabric where Yang stood as she restlessly fidgeted against the wall. She was considering just up and leaving when the quiet was broken by an unexpected source.

* * *

Standing in the corner with her arms crossed and a scowl affixed on her face, Yang was feeling more than a little unappreciated.

Granted, she'd not brought anything of use to the table, but she was as much a part of this reformed team as any of them. And yet they'd just put together a plan of assault without even glancing in her direction.

The blonde hiccuped slightly, frowning as she tasted the stale beer in the back of her throat.  _Shoulda had something stronger if I was just gonna be a spectator here anyways._

She wasn't even sure what the hell she was doing here anyway. Both Ruby and Blake had the look of stone-cold killers now, a fact that didn't sit well at all with her. She was a washed-up has-been, a bounty hunter for Oum's sake. What did she have to offer?

Yang pushed aside the negative thoughts as she always did, unwilling to dwell on the past nor her failings.  _I'm here now, and I'm gonna show 'em that I'm not worthless._

 _But you are,_  a small, niggling voice whispered.

 _Fuck you,_  she grimaced. The blonde brawler fidgeted, wondering how long they were all going to stare at each other before she could leave and attend to the bottle of whiskey in her room, the only thing that ever got that irritating conscience inside her head to shut up.

The blonde woman was about to just give up on it all and walk out when she heard a level voice speak up.

"So," Blake murmured from across the room. "Adam."

Ruby sat back in her chair and regarded the Cat Faunus levelly. "Yup."

Yang started slightly at the mention of the Bull Faunus who had taken her arm. Memories flashed through her head, of the dark-suited man standing over Blake, plunging a sword into her abdomen as she choked back a scream… a haze of red as the blonde barrelled in, once more throwing herself into a fray without thought to consequence, only the burning desire to protect Blake…

The very last image she had of Blake, prone on the ground, hand outstretched in warning towards her. Then, waking up to be told she was gone…

Her prosthetic fist clenched momentarily, the artificial gears whirring silently. But she knew they were there, inaudible as they were she was always cognizant of the artificialness of what had replaced her real arm, what tried and failed to make her whole again.

She shook off the reminiscing as Blake rose gracefully from her perch, stalking slowly towards Ruby. The blonde tensed, ready to… do what, exactly? Intervene? Help? She just didn't know what she felt anymore, what she wanted.

Yang frowned slightly in confusion as the Faunus woman crouched down at eye level with the brunette. Flat grey eyes regarded intense amber ones, neither woman moving a muscle. The silence stretched on for over a full minute, long enough to make both Yang and Weiss shift uncomfortably, though Nix seemed frozen in place, her pale green eyes wide.

"I see you," Blake finally murmured.

Ruby nodded slowly, her gaze never leaving that of the raven-haired woman's. "I see you, too," she replied softly, without inflection.

Blake returned the nod with a satisfied one of her own, rose to her feet, and walked from the room.

"Alright," Ruby grunted as she rose and stretched her arms over her head, acting as if nothing at all had just transpired. "Nothing else to plan for, I think."

"Do you want me standing by for extraction if needed?" Nix asked hesitantly.

Ruby gave her a brusque nod. "That'd be best. Let's all rest up, though."

As she stood and walked towards the door, she paused, not looking back. "You going to be sober by then, Yang?"

"Pfft, I'm good to go now if we wanna," the blonde retorted.

Her sister didn't respond, just headed out and up the stairs to her room.

Nix made her exit next, mumbling uncomfortably about how she wanted to get dinner cleaned up, leaving the remaining two former teammates alone.

"They're so alike now," Yang murmured aloud. "Ruby and Blake."

"They are," Weiss agreed. "Seems a bit incomprehensible, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," the blonde sighed, her face troubled. She levered herself up from the wall, swaying slightly.  _Maybe I did have a few too many beers… Eh, I'll be fine by tonight._

She paused with her hand on the doorframe, glancing back at the pale woman still seated on the couch, staring off into space thoughtfully.

"Hey," she began. "Um, I know I don't need to… I mean… Look, Weiss, I'm… sorry you had to leave everything. I don't blame you, though, not for leaving. I know you didn't want to."

Weiss' icy eyes bored into her as if looking for some ulterior motive behind her words, but then they softened infinitesimally. "I… Thank you, Yang."

Any number of her old taunts and teases tried to spring to her lips, calling her Princess or Ice Queen or… But nothing seemed appropriate anymore.

They'd changed too much and left their carefree years far behind them.

"You're welcome, Weiss," she whispered simply, before turning to head for her room.

She had a bottle waiting for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Aww, Weiss has a pet, how cute… Part of me wanted her to call him Zwei, but I thought that might be a bit overboard. Next chapter we'll see some more action as RWBY takes on their first major opponent as a team.
> 
> Stay shiny!


	5. Chapter 5

**Vale  
** **Two Years Ago**

"You're pathetic."

Yang scoffed lightly as she kicked a small rock out of her way. "And just who is it bein' dragged by a chain, huh? Me or you?"

Her bounty, a scruffy and disheveled man by the imaginative name of Weasel, barked out a wet laugh before turning his head. He spat out a wad of bloody phlegm.  _Hmm, must still be bleedin' from when I roughed him up. Didn't think I hit him that hard._

"You're pathetic," Weasel continued in his raspy voice, "because you're a has-been."

The blonde's eyes narrowed and she faced forward once more, giving the chain a hard tug as she continued to walk along the forest path, trusting in her bounty to either keep up or be ignominiously dragged to the next town. "Shut up," she muttered.

"Seriously, weren't you some hotshot Huntress or somethin'?" he continued, undeterred even as he staggered along. "Saw ya in the Vytal tourney before it all went tits-up on ya, right?"

Yang growled under her breath, refusing to look back. "I said, shut up."

"Now, what was it that happened back then?" he chuckled before spitting to the side once more. "Oh,  _that's_  right!" he exclaimed with false ingenuity. "You sucker-punched some kid, broke his leg, right?"

"Shut the fuck up!" Yang snarled over her shoulder.  _This mouthy asshole is becoming more trouble than he's worth, shoulda broken his jaw, not his nose…_

"And now look how the mighty Huntress has fallen, picking up lowly bounties," Weasel laughed, cruelly digging into her painful memories. "Shit, no wonder you work alone, I bet all your cute lil' teammates dropped yer ass soon as they could, am I right?"

"I  _said_ ," she snarled, whirling around and lashing out with her artificial fist. "Shut  _up!_ "

Weasel twisted from the impact with a sickening  _crack_  before he collapsed in a heap. His head flopped atop his neck at an unnatural angle.

The blonde bounty hunter stood there for a moment, chest heaving in anger and fists clenched at her sides before she reared her head back. "OUM FUCKING DAMMIT!" she roared while kicking the body so hard it flew out several feet, arrested by the chains around his wrists that were still attached to her belt. The corpse was jerked back and dropped to the dusty ground once more.

"Fine," she gritted out after a few minutes. "Less lien but a fuckload more peaceful this way."

Without further ado, Yang turned and began to drag the body the rest of the way to the town in order to claim her bounty.

" _Told_  him to shut the fuck up," she muttered under her breath, once again ignoring the twinge of her conscience. She'd take most of the bounty money and drown the voice out like she always did. Hopefully, they had a decent bar in this town…

**Vacuo Warehouse  
** **Today**

Yang crouched in the darkness next to her sister. If one could overlook the difference in the brunette's color choices, or her own slightly inebriated state, or even the fact that half of  _Ember Celica_  was now permanently embedded in her right prosthetic arm… one could almost think it were like old times again.

But they weren't, really. And they never could be again.

The blonde grimaced as she ran her left hand through the limp, tangled mess hanging from her ponytail. Her hair only came down to her shoulderblades now, a far cry from the luxurious mane she so lovingly tended to before her life went to complete shit.

People like her didn't deserve to be glamorous.

She snorted irritably under her breath, pushing the thoughts of worthlessness aside as she always did. The blonde brawler had just enough of a buzz going that she could do so, allowing herself a small modicum of confidence.

Ruby hadn't spoken more than a handful of words to her since they'd set out that evening, which, in truth, was more than she was expecting. At some point in their lives, the sisters had drifted inexorably apart, and the irksome part of it was she couldn't be sure of exactly where it all began.

No, that wasn't true, she knew damn well the root of their estrangement, when she was lying in a bed feeling fucking  _sorry_  for herself instead of giving her little sister the support she needed. When Ruby had left her, just like all the others, only this time it was her own Grimms-be-damned fault for not even  _trying_ …

With an almost inaudible growl, Yang clenched her fists, trembling with the effort to contain her internal misery and doubts. It was just so fucking  _irritating_  to sit around and do nothing, just waiting for… what, exactly? What were they even waiting for? They could be in there right now, kicking ass and busting heads instead of sitting out here like…

As if she sensed her rising ire, Ruby glanced back over her shoulder, grey eyes shining flatly in the dim light cast by Remnant's broken moon. One eyebrow was raised inquisitively.

Yang gave her an answering nod.  _Yes, fucking_ _ **yes**_ _, let's move in already!_

The brunette, of a height with her now (which was still difficult enough to process in and of itself) stared back at her for a few heartbeats before returning the nod, almost reluctantly, it seemed. And with that she was off, blinking away faster than Yang's eye could track her. The only thing to even mark her passage was the slight breeze she made and the dark red rose petals left in her wake. In the past, she'd have needed to fire off a shot from  _Crescent Rose_  to get her up to that kind of speed, but it seemed as if the brunette was operating on a whole different level of power now.

The blonde frowned slightly as she caught one of the products of her sister's semblance. Holding the rose petal up to the sparse light before it disintegrated, she noted how much darker it was now, almost the color of dried blood.  _Just like the inside her her cloak, now…_

Giving herself a shake, Yang jerked her arms, letting  _Ember Celica_  fall into place. She'd needed to completely reconstruct the one she lost at Beacon as it was never recovered, which was just as well since it required a much different fit.

Would have gone a lot faster, smoother, and with fewer discarded prototypes if she'd had her sister to help, but that was in the past. Right now…

Right now, she was finally able to prove to the others that she was worth a shit.

She growled to herself as she jogged forward.  _No, not… I_ _ **am**_ _worthwhile, I just… Argh! Fucking… Should have had more of that whiskey, or maybe saved more of it for right before the mission, would've made my head clearer, able to focus better…_

No matter. She was here now, lined up outside the door and waiting for the signal. One arm cocked back, focused on the lock to the main warehouse doors… And then there it was, a pair of chirps over the nifty little microbead comm unit tucked into her ear, meaning both Blake and Weiss were in position.

With an eager grin, Yang let loose with a shotgun blast, disintegrating the lock and smashing the doors inward.

Facing her, looks of almost comical surprise on their faces, were about twenty gang enforcers.

_Well, shit a brick._

"Hellooooo boys!" she called out cheerfully, reloading her left arm with a pumping motion. "Is this where the party's at? I brought the fireworks!"

They seemed to simultaneously break out of their lethargy as they surged forward, pulling out a variety of melee weapons and firearms.

Laughing wildly, Yang fired her gauntlets at the ground below her, sending her soaring overhead and into their midst. She almost tanked the landing as it'd been quite some time since she'd tried such a maneuver, but saved it at the last minute with a tuck-and-roll forward.

"Nailed it!" she chirped, sending a one-two combo into the midsection of the goon in front of her.

They reacted faster than she thought they would, turning and surrounding her in short order.

She could do this. She could buy time for Ruby to speed through the warehouse and search for this Taupher character, give Blake and Weiss the time to attract the bulk of their attention at the rear of the building.

She could regain her former glory if she could just…

Yang ducked and juked, her gauntlets sending out a barrage of shotgun blasts. Some of her opponents went down, but more were able to dodge her own attacks, something that would have been inexcusably lax on her part years ago in her prime. But not only was she unused to dealing with multiple opponents anymore, those she did fight were incapable of putting up much of a fight.

She felt the impact against her left shoulder from a baseball bat, sending her stumbling forward and into a brutal kick by what appeared to be a Bear Faunus. Her teeth snapped together as it took her on the chin, and before she knew it she was blearily staring up at the ceiling. A couple of the thugs leaned over her leeringly.

"Mister Black's gonna be happy as all get-out to see what we caught today," one of them, a man with a scruffy and unkempt beard, chortled. "So who you workin' for, missy?"

Yang coughed, rolling onto her side.  _C'mon, nothing? Hardest I've been hit in years, and still no fucking semblance_ _?_  "Bounty hunter," she managed to croak out.

"No shit? So who are ya-"

His impromptu interrogation was cut off by the screams of those enforcers on the outskirts of the gathering. A breeze blew through the room, seemingly from inside the warehouse itself instead of from the open doors, and where it went, so followed a trail of blood and dismemberment. Yang propped herself up on her elbows, watching with wide eyes as the previously confident goons were cut into ribbons by what for all intents and purposes was an invisible ghost.

She never even got a glimpse of her sister, just a few dark red rose petals drifting to the floor.

A commotion from further inside made her attention snap up as she struggled to regain her footing. Weiss raced by in a flash of white, propelled forward by a white glyph and sending another enforcer sprawling. And then a shadowy form landed on the downed man, swinging her cleaver sheath downward in a vicious strike, rendering him unconscious.

The two monochrome women stared at each other for a brief moment before separating and moving back off to engage more opponents.

Yang shook her head to dispel the dizziness from her earlier attack, though some of that could be attributed to the alcohol still in her system. No matter, it was dulling the pain, which was a plus.

She sucker-punched one man who was about to confront her platinum-haired teammate, dropping him to the floor, flat on his face. Another whirled around, spinning a baseball bat in his hands as he moved to engage the blonde.

_Okay, one-on-one, I can do this…_

Snarling, she surged forward and hauled back her right fist. The other man ducked forward under her lunge and sent the end of the bat into her midsection, knocking the wind out of her.

Tears blurring her vision, she stumbled backwards and landed on her ass once more, clutching at her stomach in pain. She stared up at the man advancing on her, first in anger but then in confusion as her mind tried to wrap around what she was seeing.

Apparently, both Weiss and Blake had seen her fall, and each one simultaneously arrived to knock into the attacker. Instead, what happened was that they sandwiched the unfortunate victim, rendering him senseless but sending the both of them sprawling as well.

If she wasn't desperately trying to catch her breath, she might have laughed out loud at the spectacle.

The Cat Faunus recovered first, growling irritably at the former heiress as she leapt to her feet and used a shadow clone to propel herself to the other side of the room where more of the enforcers were congregating for a rush. Weiss sighed heavily as she clambered to her feet next, giving Yang a concerned glance.

The blonde just waved her away, though.  _Don't waste your time on me…_

Tears blurred her vision again, but this time they weren't from the pain. Instead, her self-hatred was rising to the fore once more, the intense loathing she felt for the pitiful creature she'd become. The fallen hero.

The has-been.

She slammed her artificial hand into the concrete as she struggled to her feet once again, the impact shattering the surface and sending shards of debris out in all directions. One of the goons was staggering backwards from Blake's whirlwind assault, and with a roar of unbridled anger, she slammed both fists into his back, snapping his spine and sending him bowling over in an awkward forward somersault.

Yang stared down at the corpse, his entire body bent backwards at an unnatural angle, while she felt the blood rush from her face.

As she stood there motionless, her earpiece chirped.

"Target secure," Ruby's voice came over. "Report."

"Resistance eliminated," Blake murmured back immediately.

"Fatalities?"

Yang saw the tips of Blake's boots at the edge of her vision as she came up to her, joined soon thereafter by a pair of small white ones.

"One," the Faunus whispered after a moment.

Yang glanced up at the sound of a door opening. Above their heads was a catwalk Yang hadn't even noticed, running across the top of the building and connecting to a set of offices on the upper floor. Ruby's head poked out, her gaze boring down and into her sister before it ducked back again. Her voice came over the comms once more, expressionless as always.

"Get Yang back to the safe house. I'll bring Taupher along."

Yang frowned heavily as she stepped back from the broken body. She wasn't some weakling that needed to be escorted back…

_Yes, you are._

_Fuck you._

Blake and Weiss stepped up to her on either side as she walked somewhat unsteadily out of the warehouse, her fists clenched at her sides. Neither woman was close enough to touch, seemingly remaining near enough, though, to catch her sorry ass were she to just collapse on the spot.

_Pathetic, miserable fucking excuse for a Huntress… No, not even that, I never was and sure as hell ain't anywhere near that level now. What am I?_

_What good am I?_

"Yang," the diminutive platinum-haired woman at her side murmured. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she gritted out shortly, but then sighed and unclenched her jaw.  _Just because you're beating yourself up doesn't give you the right to take it out on anyone else._  "Sorry. Yeah, I'll be fine. Sorry about… Well. Sorry."

"Mmm." Blake's response was as noncommittal as always. At one time, the blonde could easily interpret her small hums where the Cat Faunus didn't feel the need to fill space with words. At one time, they could hold an entire conversation with only Yang's voice filling the void.

Now, she had no idea what it meant. For all she knew, it was heavily laden with disgust at the blonde for having lost her temper once again, and not in a way that was in any shape or form productive.

But, more often than not, it ended up with some sorry son of a Grimm lying dead at her feet.

Tears leaked down her cheeks again, the shame of her actions rising up like…

 _Fuck_. With a lurch, she stumbled to the side of the darkened alleyway they'd started down. Hands braced on the dirty brick wall, she voided the contents of her stomach.

She crouched there, heaving and sobbing before her embarrassment overcame the rest of her debilitation. Standing, Yang ran the sleeve of her good arm across her face, grimacing at the smell she'd left behind.

Old booze and stomach acid, not a great combination.

Yang took another minute to compose herself, bracing for the looks of… What, exactly, was she expecting? Pity? Disgust?

She turned to see only Weiss standing by the mouth of the alley, facing away and with her arms wrapped around her middle as she stood guard. Yang's former girlfriend was nowhere in sight.

The platinum-haired woman turned slightly when she heard the crunch of the blonde's footsteps.

"Blake went to meet up with Ruby in case she needed help."

 _Right, and to get away from me, I'm sure._  "Thanks."

Weiss gazed at her levelly, pale blue eyes soft and… compassionate? No, surely she was misreading that. "For what?"

"For staying."

"Of course." The other woman looked back away again, straightening the hem of her white overcoat. "We're… Well, I suppose we are a team once more, yes? This is what we used to do, so long ago… Look out for each other…"

Yang sighed as they began to walk side by side, much closer now. Though the blonde wasn't sure if that was at all wise with the way she now reeked.

"You miss it?" she finally asked the question that had been itching at the back of her mind for the last two days.

"The team?" Weiss responded rhetorically. "Beacon? Happier times, easier times…? You can't turn the clock back, Yang."

"I know." She clenched and unclenched her artificial fist. "Sometimes memories are all I got left."

Weiss nodded slowly, not looking her way. "Perhaps… you just need a purpose. A direction."

"Yeah, that'd help. Ain't had one since… well…" She held her prosthetic arm up and dropped it back to her side.

It was a good fifteen minutes walk back to their safehouse. They could have called for a ride, but for a change, Yang was actually enjoying the fresh air, breathing in deep and expelling her negative energy with every step. Walking along, being with Weiss… almost felt like…

"I'm glad we're together again," Yang whispered, almost to herself.

They continued for perhaps another full minute before Weiss spoke up once more.

"As am I."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hmm, seems Team RWBY still isn't quite functional yet…
> 
> Stay shiny!


	6. Chapter 6

**Vale  
** **One Year Ago**

Roman Torchwick had been many things in his lifetime. Con man, thief, criminal mastermind, ladies' man, even a mentor. He'd survived a fair number of scrapes as well, laughed in the face of death more times than he could remember.

Now, though?

Now he was lying in a pool of his own blood, painfully dragging himself across the floor of his warehouse hideout. The agonized shrieks of his henchmen as they messily died echoed from the rafters, and he tried not to look too closely at the body parts littering the path between him and the freedom of the side door.

The once-elegant thief had to pause, grimacing as he felt his hasty bandage begin to leak once more. "Damn lucky the little bitch didn't take my leg clean off," he grumbled, desperately wishing for a cigar. He'd used a broken half of his beloved weapon,  _Melodic Cudgel_ , as a splint to hold what was left of his right leg together, just long enough for his aura to recover enough to heal himself. His left ankle was shattered, no way to deal with that right now, but it hurt something fierce as he dragged it behind him.

"Just a little further," he grunted, reaching up and pulling himself along for another few feet. "Survive another day, same as any other day, just gotta…"

He trailed off as the sound of the last scream faded. Then there was silence.

His time just ran out.

Panting from the exertion, he tried to pick up the pace, even as the new sound, the metallic  _screech_  of that damnable oversized gardening tool being dragged along the concrete, grew ever closer.

The great rends and tears in the walls allowed uneven rays of the late-afternoon sunshine to trickle through, dust motes competing with the lingering smoke of gunpowder and Red Dust rounds. Roman clenched his teeth in concentration, refusing to allow this to be his end. No way was some upstart little girl going to get the better of him, not Roman Torchwick, not now, not ever…

"Oh, Roman," a deceptively sweet-sounding voice murmured from entirely too close for his comfort. "You look like shit."

He coughed out a wet laugh as his forehead rested against the floor. "Little Red," he greeted her warily without looking up. "Picked up some new moves, didn't you?"

In truth, their fight was disturbingly one-sided, a far cry from when he'd fought the juvenile Huntress-in-training in the past. It didn't take long for Roman to realize that the brunette girl was actually  _toying_  with him.

"A few," she agreed levelly. The thief felt the toe of a boot tuck under his shoulder before he was flipped onto his back, causing him to choke on the blood that was pooling in his chest. The last slash from her scythe, the one that had broken through his aura, had pierced straight through his ribcage. And that was  _before_  she'd decided to lop off a chunk of his leg and shoot his ankle to oblivion, telling him to "stick around" with a cheeky wink before she moved off to slaughter his gang.

That was his first mistake, he decided. Thinking that the once-diminutive girl would fight as she had before, with restraint.

This girl, no, this  _woman_ , clad mostly in black, including her billowing cloak but with blood-red highlights and trimmings… She was a true killer.

"Oh, my, Little Red," he chuckled weakly. "If I'd known you'd become this good, I'd have made you an offer. Not too late, though, y'know? Working for me comes with  _great_  benefits."

Ruby spun around in a slow circle, her flat grey eyes taking in the wanton destruction and loss of life she'd inflicted upon his operation. "Not from where I'm standing," she finally smirked down at him.

He summoned up enough energy to glare halfheartedly at her, clinging to his defiance until the end. "So, what, you're gonna collect on that bounty on my head? Pretty tidy sum of lien there, get you set up for life…"

"Oh, no," she said with a slow shake of her head, her eyes remaining cold and expressionless. "This? This is personal, Roman."

"Personal? Little Red, it's never been personal, just business."

"Is that so?" Ruby leaned down, her now-longer brunette hair brushing against his chest. "Was it just  _business_  when you tossed me off an airship?"

"What, you got up there just fine," he managed to grin disarmingly. "I figured you could get back down too!"

The brunette stood upright once more, leaning on her extended weapon while curiously examining his prone form. "I think," she began musingly, "that you need to learn fear."

He swallowed, the copper taste of his own blood on his tongue. "I'm good, thanks," he joked weakly.

"No, I don't think you are," she grinned suddenly. Her smile, though, was devoid of any humor, instead, it promised much blood and extensive pain. "But we have time… Lots and lots of time."

His screams lasted for a good hour before finally trailing off into a deathly rattle, the former criminal's body unable to take any further abuse, blood loss, or removal of pieces. Ruby took another half an hour or so before she was satisfied.

She grinned darkly to herself as she eventually strode from the warehouse, a large bag slung over her shoulder filled with lien and documents and her dark clothing admirably hiding the blood spatters. "Just one tiny little psychopath to track down still," the brunette giggled to herself quietly, the bloody trail from her boots eventually fading as she slipped into the shadows.

**Vacuo Safehouse  
** **Today**

Blake looked up from where she was perched on the staircase as Yang and Weiss entered the safehouse. Her amber eyes were hooded, watching for any hint of… Well, she wasn't quite certain what she was searching for in her former girlfriend and lover.

The blonde had evidently taken the time on the walk over to compose herself and simply brushed wordlessly past the Cat Faunus as she headed up the steps, hopefully to change clothes and wash up.

And, if the constant stench emanating from the woman was anything to go by, have another drink.

The raven-haired girl sighed softly. She was no stranger to violence, to death. Certainly, she'd seen enough of it in her lifetime, committed more than her fair share. But never when she lost her temper, no, killing was something to be done dispassionately else you became too emotionally involved, entirely too affected by the loss of life.

As Yang was.

She could see it in her eyes, standing over the corpse of a man she'd killed in a fit of pique. Horror over her actions, self-loathing, disgust. A very small part of her, that little portion that could still remember what the blonde had once meant to her, felt badly for the distraught woman.

Mostly, though, she couldn't summon up more than that inkling of pity. Yang was trapped within herself, and until she figured out a way to break free, she'd continue on her downward spiral.

_Not my problem._

Callous? Perhaps, but years in and out of the White Fang taught her to respect strength of will. And currently, Yang had practically none left whatsoever.

Now, their team leader, on the other hand…

Her Faunus ears perked up as a door down the hall opened to reveal the woman in question. Ruby had discarded her cloak and combat skirt outfit, instead changing into a simple pair of black cargo pants and a matching tank top, showing off her lean, muscular limbs. A few scars crisscrossed her upper arms, old and mostly healed, while what appeared to be the shiny white of an old burn decorated her left shoulder.

Ruby's flat grey eyes immediately sought her out but flickered over to Weiss when she noticed her quiet presence.

"Yang?" she asked with quiet indifference.

Her former partner nodded slightly. "Upstairs, cleaning up."

"Right. We're ready."

Blake stood, stretching in a way only a Cat Faunus could, long and sinuous. She smirked slightly as she passed Weiss, the former heiress still uncomfortable around her. "I imagine you'll want to remain out here."

The diminutive woman's gaze remained focused on her white boots. "Yes," she replied tersely. Arms wrapped around her waist, the duellist made her way into the living area.

Blake followed the brunette into the small side room, thoughtfully provided for just such an occurrence. Or maybe it was intended to be a washroom, she wasn't entirely certain, but the drain in the middle of the floor was likely to be handy.

Taupher was strapped, shirtless, to a steel chair set directly over the drain. The scrawny man, haggard and bruised, had his mouth duct-taped shut and his hands securely bound behind him and to the chair itself, along with his ankles to the chair legs.

Knowing her role in what was to come, Blake leaned against the wall with her arms crossed and smirked widely at the trembling man.

"So, Tauph," Ruby began conversationally as she dragged the full bucket over from the wash basin on the side of the small room. She paused, peering into his eyes consideringly. "I can call you Tauph, yeah? Good. So then, Tauph. We," she indicated herself and the Cat Faunus lounging indolently against the wall, "have some questions for you. I really hope, for your sake, that you don't mind answering them."

With an audible  _rip_ , the brunette tore the duct tape away from the frantic man's mouth.

"Wh- Who are you?" he asked weakly. "Where am I? What do you want from me?"

Ruby sighed as she reached behind her and withdrew a common kitchen paring knife. "Now, see, already we're getting off on the wrong foot," she stated blandly. "I said  _I'd_  be asking the questions, not  _you_." Glancing over her shoulder, she gave Blake a small smirk. "I did say that, didn't I?"

"You did," the Faunus purred darkly. "Perhaps he needs better incentive to listen."

"I think you're right." Without warning, Ruby's hand flashed out. The bound man screamed piteously as his left ear flopped to the floor like a dead fish. "Now, I already told you what I want. I'm going to ask questions. Are you ready to listen?"

Taupher nodded, whimpering, his distraught eyes rolling around the room in a futile search for escape.

"Good boy." The brunette used the bloody knife to pat him on the cheek condescendingly, leaving wet marks behind. "So then, firstly, I need a name. Your female teammate from school."

The man's frenzied struggles ceased as his eyes bugged out. His lips formed a firm line as he seemed to take a conscious effort to clamp them shut.

"Well, I didn't expect this to be easy," Ruby sighed with false reluctance. Wordlessly, she pulled over one of the dust-infused batteries used to power commercial vehicles. Taupher's eyes bugged out even further, if that were possible, though the only sounds he made were continuing pitiful whimpers.

"Now, the most painful way to do this," Ruby explained conversationally as she held up the electrodes attached to said battery, "would be to attach this to your genitals." She grimaced slightly. "But I really don't want to go there. No offence."

She leaned over and carefully applied the pair of leads to the man's nipples. "This is almost as effective, maybe not as much as on a woman, but hey, I work with what I got, right?" She stood up, regarding the trembling man with a dark smile. "Right."

Turning once more, Ruby picked the bucket up and upturned half of it over his head, careful not to let it splash on the battery. She scooted it to the side a few more inches just to be safe.

"Okay, so, last chance." Ruby peered into the panicked face of her victim. "No? Nothing? Alright, then…"

With the toe of her boot she flicked on the switch on the battery and the man immediately began to jump and writhe in place as the electrical dust did its damage to him. She gave it a count of five before flicking it off once more, his screams fading into a breathy whine.

"Think that was enough?" she mused, stepping back to stand next to Blake.

"Possibly," the Cat Faunus conceded calmly. Her nose wrinkled at the acrid stench of the man's bowels having been voided. "It will take him a moment to recover enough to be even coherent."

"Well, I got nowhere else to be," Ruby shrugged nonchalantly.

Blake reached out an inquisitive finger, stopping just short of touching the burn scar on the brunette's shoulder. "If you don't mind me asking…?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, that." Ruby's face settled back into her usual indifferent mask. "Cinder."

"Ah. Say no more."

"She was a pretty tough bitch to take down."

"Tougher than Torchwick or Adam?"

"Well, I wasn't as good back then." She graced Blake with another tight smirk. "I got better, fast. Neo was actually more of a challenge, but Adam…" Ruby sighed slightly as she faced the man slumped limply in the chair before them. "Yeah, I think I underestimated him going into the fight."

"Most people did," Blake murmured.

With a resolute nod, Ruby stepped forward once more, gripping Taupher by his hair and hauling back to peer into his slack face. She lightly slapped him across the cheek. "Alright now, look alive, Tauph. That was just a little tease, to give you a taste. You ready to talk to me yet? I can still start cutting on you, if you'd prefer that instead…"

The slack-jawed man mumbled something incoherent. Ruby sighed and stepped to the side after releasing her grip, dumping the rest of the bucket over his head. Sputtering, he shook the water from his eyes before starting up at her fearfully.

"Let's try this again," Ruby began, sounding almost bored. "Female team member. I want a name."

He stared back at her, lips trembling before he finally broke.

"Lie Xiao," he whispered.

Frowning, Ruby glanced over at the raven-haired Faunus who shrugged in return. The name sounded familiar, but it wasn't much to go off of.

"See, we're becoming friends already, Tauph," Ruby stated cheerfully. "Being all cooperative and all. Now, how about where to find her?"

"I… I don't know," he muttered, tears pooling in his eyes. "I swear, I swear to Oum, I don't know, lady, I only know-"

He clamped his lips shut once again.

"Oh, Tauph, Tauph," Ruby sighed, shaking her head in disappointment. "And we were getting so far, now we're back to square one."

Blake kept watch, her amber eyes dancing with the reflected light as the man writhed once more from the electricity coursing painfully through his system. She knew it took a delicate touch to do such a method of torture, too much and the person's heart would fail. Were his aura still active or recovered enough, it would have made the calculations even more difficult, but Ruby seemed to know exactly what she was doing, shutting the current off well before the lethal zone.

Sighing, Ruby slouched next to Blake once more to idly watch the steam drift off of the feebly-stirring man. "Maybe I should have gone with waterboarding," she mused absentmindedly.

"Personally, I always stuck to the tried-and-true methods," the former White Fang member murmured. "Sticks up the fingernails, sleep deprivation if you have the time… boiling…"

"Boiling?"

"Hot oil over various parts of the body."

"Oooh, nasty."

The Cat Faunus nodded once. "It was. Nothing I enjoyed overly, mind you…"

"Well, no, this isn't exactly fun for me, either. But necessary."

"It is." Blake glanced over at the slightly-taller brunette. "I don't think our teammates will see it as clearly as we do."

Ruby sighed softly. "No, I imagine not," she murmured. "There's lots of stuff about us they can't really understand now, isn't there?"

"Mmm."

"Whelp, let's give this another go…"

It only took five minutes to bring Taupher back to a coherent state, and another few seconds to extract one more name from him, a person who could lead them to the woman they sought.

"Well, this is…" Ruby blinked, looking back at Blake.

"Interesting," the Faunus woman completed for her.

"Yeah, that's definitely one word for it… So, you wanna do the honors or shall I?"

Blake looked over at the pitiful man, now slumped over and sobbing quietly. "You did the heavy lifting, I'll finish it."

She strode past the chair, unsheathing her blade, and quickly drove it through the back of the man's skull. As much as he'd been through over the past hour, he at least deserved a quick death. Flicking  _Gambol Shroud_  to the side to clean the blood off, she sheathed it and rejoined her team leader.

"Right, thanks. I'll see if Nix is up to body disposal as one of her talents. First, though…" Ruby glanced down at her black combat boots briefly before looking up again resolutely. "Let's rejoin the others and talk."

Nodding in agreement, Blake followed the brunette like a shadow down the hall. Yang had evidently finished freshening up and was wearing a clean pair of tan cargo shorts and a yellow tee shirt. Barefoot, she seemed to be in slightly elevated spirits as she chatted with Weiss, talking about one of her earlier bounties. The platinum-haired woman listened idly, a faint smile on her face.

As soon as she entered the room, Blake's nose wrinkled up once again. Even over the lingering stench of excrement and blood, the alcoholic fumes surrounding the blonde were rather potent.

Both of the other team members looked up as they entered, the conversation trailing off.

"We have results," Ruby began brusquely, gesturing Blake towards a chair next to the sofa the other two were perched upon. "Before we get into that, we need to discuss something."

The brunette sighed, folding her arms across the chest, flat grey eyes glinting dully in the light. "What was that all about earlier tonight? Blake and Weiss, that was pathetic."

The Cat Faunus' eyes narrowed in irritation, though she knew the brunette had the right of it. Weiss, for her part, sputtered indignantly.

"I don't know what-"

"Save it," Ruby cut her off brusquely. "Your performance tonight was seriously subpar." She turned towards Blake first, whose irritation faded into a sense of chagrin. "Blake, I've seen you fight first-hand. The way you utilize your clones now, you could have easily tackled half of those goons all on your own without even breaking a sweat."

Her steely gaze switched over to Weiss next, who cringed back slightly. "And I've seen the vid feeds of your fighting, Weiss. In particular, the one where you took on three manned Atlesian Paladins single-handedly."

With a weary sigh, Ruby turned and flopped inelegantly into an overstuffed chair facing them all. "Look, I know you're capable of more, and I get that you don't trust each other yet. That's fine. But I can't have you holding back like this if we're all gonna work together effectively."

Weiss pursed her lips, turning halfway to regard the Cat Faunus levelly. "I… admit, I have been a bit… reserved. I shall try to cooperate more effectively."

The raven-haired woman didn't relax her rigid posture any at the words, but she did give her a small, accepting nod. "And I shall pledge to do the same," she murmured.

"Good," Ruby stated in satisfaction. Her gaze flickered over her sister, now seemingly brooding in the corner of the couch, and though she parted her mouth briefly as if to say something, she just shook her head.

"Alright, anything else we need to get off our chests?"

Surprisingly, Blake felt the time was finally right to broach the subject. "I do."

Ruby sat back once more, gesturing for the Faunus woman to continue. Rather than get up and pace about, which was her instinct but would surely put her ill at ease, Blake turned in her seat to regard Weiss levelly.

"We should talk about your activities after you left the SDC."

Visibly blanching, Weiss shrunk back in her seat slightly. "Wh- What do you mean?"

"I mean," she continued, softly unrelenting, "the hypocrisy of your actions, and what you at one time accused me of with the White Fang."

Weiss paled further, small fists clenched in her lap.

"You were a terrorist," Blake continued, her voice devoid of any accusation or malice. "As was I. Do not make excuses for your actions, own up to them."

"I. Was.  _Not._  A. Terrorist." Each word was soft yet bitten off cleanly, though underlying her seemingly defiant attitude was an altogether different undertone.

If it weren't there, she would have immediately backed down, deeming the effort too soon. But seeing as it was…

"Yes, you were," the raven-haired woman rebuked evenly. "Your goals may have different, but tell me this, Weiss…" Blake leaned forward, her amber eyes flashing. "How were your methods any different from mine?"

Weiss blinked, her lips a thin slash of agitation as her pale blue eyes flickered about. Both Ruby and Yang were stilled, watching the scene without any intention of interfering.

After a few moments, the pale woman straightened her back into her usual ramrod-straight posture. "I never tortured anyone."

Blake almost flinched at that.  _So, she knows a little of that part of my past too… Or perhaps she's merely inferring from our most recent activity._

"I will grant you that, yes," she relented, though her facade remained unyielding. "Torture, however, does not mark a terrorist. Need I define the term for you?"

"I…" The former heiress sighed, her shoulders slumping infinitesimally as she fixated on her hands and made a conscious effort to relax them. "No, you do not need to… I will admit, it has been eating at me a bit," she finally admitted with a small, wry smile. "Yes, I suppose I've come to recognize the hypocrisy." She looked up then, pale blue eyes flashing dangerously. "That doesn't excuse what I went through growing up, though."

"It does not," Blake agreed with a tentative smile. "But we are not so unalike in some aspects, you and I."

"No," Weiss murmured in return with an answering smile. "I suppose not."

The Cat Faunus turned back to regard Ruby. She could have sworn that, if only for an instant, the familiar quicksilver color had shone through before her eyes returned to their familiar flat grey once more. "Good," she stated with perhaps a trace of warmth. "Now, then, our target. Her name is Lie Xiao, and while we do have a source as to her whereabouts, I know it will be an unwilling one, being her sole surviving relative. So I'd like to try another source of my own, first, back in Vale."

"If I may," Weiss interjected. "Who is this source, and why do you know they will be unwilling?"

"We have a bad history," Ruby explained heavily, getting to her feet. "And as far as the identity goes…"

She headed towards the door, likely to get Nix and see about both cleaning up in the side room and their relocation back to Vale. The brunette paused at the doorway, though, and Blake was surprised to see a hint of melancholy on the team leader's face as she left them with one last name.

"Lie Ren, of Team Juniper."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** There's a possibility I should have put a warning up about the torture, but there's a reason this is rated M, and for once it's not the sex.
> 
> Hopefully, Ruby's stern talking-to will take hold, at least for Blake and Weiss. And maybe they're becoming a bit more reconciled. Yang's got a ways to go, still.
> 
> So back to Vale we go, and things are gonna get a whole lot dicier with JNPR in the mix. At least we get to see what they've been up to, though!
> 
> Stay shiny!


	7. Chapter 7

**Beacon  
** **Six Years Ago**

The dust was still settling from the huge chunks of debris that had rained down upon the grounds. The remains of Ozpin's office created obstacles for Grimm and defenders alike as they waged battle in the shadow of Beacon's tower.

Ruby and Weiss dispatched the last pair of Beowolves opposing them at the moment as they struggled to reach the titanic fight underway at the top. "We gotta hurry!" Ruby exclaimed desperately.

Her platinum-haired teammate glanced up, twirling her rapier and sending a trail of white glyphs up the length of the tower. Turning, she pulled her girlfriend in close for a quick, hard kiss.

"You can do this," Weiss stated confidently.

Ruby grinned back, wrapping her up in a tight hug. "You be careful."

Weiss smiled back softly. "You too, dolt."

Without further ado, Ruby took off, pushing her semblance to the limit as she fired  _Crescent Rose_  behind her to lend her more speed. In a blur of red, trailing the rose petals she was known for, the brunette quickly scaled the walls and ended up at the top in a crouch. It only took her a heartbeat to capture the situation, Pyrrha kneeling in defeat with an arrow through her ankle while Cinder stood before her, another arrow lined up at her heart and a victorious smile on her face.

"No," she whispered, suddenly frozen. She'd already lost Penny, who knew how Blake and her sister were, they could be dying from their wounds, and now Pyrrha was on the brink of death. She was helpless again, just like with Penny, helpless to do anything as she watched another dear friend die right before her. Pyrrha had turned her way upon her ascent and emerald eyes locked upon her sadly but with resignation to her fate.

"NO!" the brunette screamed suddenly before her vision went white. Just before it did, however, she saw the startled look on Cinder's face as she screamed incredulously, her arrow going wide from the shock of the blast that somehow emanated from Ruby's eyes. The Grimm Dragon roared in agony in the background, while Pyrrha tumbled away, her own cries of pain muted.

And then the white faded to darkness.

Dimly she felt herself lying on the cold, hard surface, the sounds of sobbing growing closer. And then she was being cradled in strong, soft arms, clutching her close.

"Please be okay," she heard Pyrrha whisper tearfully. "Ruby, you saved me, you… Please, please be okay, please don't die on me, not after that…"

And then there was another presence on the rooftop as her consciousness finally finished trickling away. She faintly heard her Uncle Qrow's raspy yet reassuring voice.

"It's okay, kiddo, I gotcha. I gotcha both."

And then there was nothing.

**Downtown Vale  
** **Today**

_Somethings never change,_  Yang thought to herself with a smirk. Junior's club looked much the same as it had the last time she'd been there a little over six years ago, shaking the man down for information on the whereabouts of a certain Roman Torchwick.

The blonde ambled into the nightclub, soaking in the throbbing beat, the pulsing mass of people on the dance floor, and the flashing lights, though she remained ready for action. She'd gotten a certain reputation there, one she was more than prepared to back up.

What she was  _not_ expecting, however, was for the suited goons to step back from the party of four women with a certain degree of respect, if not outright fear.

Her lilac eyes flashed to the side, where Ruby strolled confidently in the midst of the group. Yang still wasn't quite used to not having to look down to meet her sister's eyes. But the way the brunette was currently holding herself, so confident and brash, kind of reminded her a little bit of herself, back when… Or rather, before…

She gave herself an irritated shake for the momentary lapse. No time to reminisce when up ahead were a certain deadly pair of twins who were regarding them… Wait, what exactly were they doing?

"Ruby!" white-clad Melanie said with a small, hesitant grin on her face. One pale hand tucked a long strand of dark hair behind her ear. "We weren't expecting you!"

"It's been awhile," her sister, Miltia, agreed, fidgeting with her red claws nervously. "Um… Can we get you anything, Ruby?"

"No thanks, ladies," the brunette replied breezily, striding past them to the bar. She paused in her step and regarded the pair levelly. "Good to see you both."

"You too, Ruby!" Melanie grinned, bouncing on her toes slightly.

"Come say goodbye before you leave!" Miltia added, her hands now demurely behind her back.

Yang stared at her younger sister, mouth agape, as they continued their trek to the bar. "You tapped that," she stated incredulously.

Ruby turned her head very slightly in her direction, enough to make the small smirk on her face visible.

" _Both_  of them?" The smirk remained firmly in place. "At the same  _time?!_ "

"I don't kiss and tell," the brunette replied loftily, sliding onto a barstool and regarding the massive bear of a man at the other end who was quickly finishing up with another customer before hurrying over.

"I'll be a son of a Grimm," Yang breathed, her voice full of awe.

"Close your mouth, Yang," Blake deadpanned from the other side of Ruby. "You look like a tourist."

The blonde shot her former lover a dark look before turning around to face the bar.  _And then some things do change,_  she mused with a heavy sigh.  _Drastically._  She did notice, however, that Weiss was working hard to dispel the look of distaste on her face like she'd just bitten into a lemon.

"Ruby!" Junior exclaimed jovially. "Good to see you again! And you've brought company this time… Ah, blondie, long time no see!"

"Hey, Junior," Yang greeted him mutedly, giving him a small wave and feeling rather insignificant.

"So what can I get you, ladies?"

"The usual," Ruby stated softly, her fingers interlaced in front of her.

Junior gave her a nod. "One whiskey shot, coming up. And you?"

"I'll have a martini, dry," Weiss stated with careful neutrality, her pale blue eyes darting about the place in interest.

Blake looked fairly nervous, fidgeting in her seat as she turned every so often to regard the crowd, the Malachite sisters who were standing unobtrusively by, or both. "Manhattan," she murmured, just loud enough to be heard over the music.

The blonde bruiser jerked a thumb over at Ruby, sitting on the other side of Weiss. "I'll have what she's having."

Junior bustled about the bar, setting their drinks up. When hers arrived, Yang slammed the shot back, relishing in the slick burn as the high-quality alcohol made its way down her throat.  _Ahhhh… that's good shit._ The warmth instantly spread through her system, and she let out a happy sigh, a wide grin on her face as she turned to face the others.

Ruby, though, was regarding her levelly, still fingering her untouched glass.

"What?" Yang demanded somewhat irritably.

The brunette just shook her head and turned to Junior once more. "I need information. Two names, give me what you can on the where and what."

The big bearded man nodded slowly, pulling Yang's shot glass back and setting it under the counter to be washed.

Ruby leaned forward slightly. "Lie Xiao. Lie Ren."

Junior nodded once more. "Back in a few."

The four of them sat idly while the hulking man strode off, indicating with a jerk of his head for another employee to take over the bartending. Yang quickly raised a finger, then pointing to Ruby's glass. Nodding, the slender suited man poured another shot glass.

Blake turned in her seat, sipping from her drink as she eyed the twins. The red and white duo were trying their best to sneak unobtrusive glances Ruby's way while still keeping an eye on the crowd.

"Twins, hmm?" the Cat Faunus finally spoke up idly.

"Yup," Ruby agreed, turning around in her seat as well but leaving her drink behind her. The twins in question hurriedly faced the other way, suddenly absorbed in their bouncer duties.

"How did you get them to agree to that?"

"Oh, just told them I didn't want to hurt the other's feelings." Ruby's smirk returned. "Made it a package deal."

"Mmm."

"Too good an opportunity to pass up, though, you know?"

"Oh, no doubt."

Yang grimaced as she slammed back her drink, holding up her finger once more.  _Do I really need to listen to my sister discuss her sex life with my ex-girlfriend?_ Evidently, Weiss was of the same mindset, her face twisted up in a scowl as she faced the bar and tended to her own drink.

As the bartender made to acquiesce, though, Ruby raised her arm over her shoulder and snapped her fingers imperiously before holding a warning hand out flat. The bartender, looking between the two sisters, nervously bowed and moved to the other end.

Yang's scowl was fierce enough to match Weiss' at this point.  _Who the fuck does she think she is, cuttin' me off?_

Before she could gather up the nerve for an argument, though, the two had resumed their conversation.

"So how about you?" Ruby asked casually.

"Mmm?"

"Any decent escapades?"

"A few." Blake nodded thoughtfully as she sipped at her Manhattan. "Was with a Bear Faunus once, really huge guy."

"Oh yeah?" The brunette's face broke out into a lecherous grin. "How huge?"

"...Huge."

"And what was he like?"

"Erm…" Blake stared off thoughtfully into the crowd. "Hairy."

Yang wasn't sure how she felt about discovering that, one, her former girlfriend had been with lovers since her, and two, at least one of them had been a guy. Granted, Adam had been her first, she knew that, but she felt just a little bit of melancholy at the notion. She shared an incredulous look with Weiss, who by now was blushing furiously at the turn of conversation.

But then she turned her head at the completely unexpected sound of her sister giggle-snorting into her hand, eyes twinkling merrily. They shone with a very familiar silver hue, and the sight of it tightened something in Yang's chest, causing her to tear up slightly.

_Oh, Ruby… What the fuck happened with us?_

The brunette quickly sobered as Junior walked up behind the bar once more, giving the room a cursory and disinterested glance before stopping before Ruby who had turned around once more. He placed his scroll on the counter, leaning forward heavily on both hands as he began. His quiet rumble was just loud enough to carry no further than the four women.

"Not much on Lie Xiao. Badass Huntress, so I understand, graduated from Shade with top honors. The usual activities, Grimm bounties and the like, before she disappears off the radar some twenty years ago. Pops up every so often, usually in connection with something very big, very bad. Crime syndicate in Mistral overthrown, White Fang base in Vacuo wiped out, that sort of thing. Evidently, works solo."

He reached over to tap at his scroll, face turning thoughtful behind the neatly-trimmed beard. "Now, Lie Ren, he's the nephew and only surviving relative of Lie Xiao, but I figure you know that already. I'll skip the early stuff as it looks like you're pretty familiar with him." He waited for Ruby's slight nod before continuing. "So he's been working with his team on the outskirts of Vale, protecting villages and the like. Instrumental in the reclamation of Beacon, married three years ago to his partner Nora Valkyrie. No children, served as best man to his teammate Jaune Arc when he and Pyrrha Nikos, also on the team, married six months ago."

"Interesting," Ruby murmured, her brow furrowed.

Blake's Faunus ears twitched atop her head as she turned around. "Wonder why it took Jaune and Pyrrha so long to marry."

"Yeah, wonder why…" Ruby gave herself a shake. "Well, we can use that as leverage, anyways. Location?"

Junior shook his head ruefully. "Too often on the move for any concrete location other than their residence here in Vale. But," he grinned suddenly, "I have his private scroll number."

The brunette let a slow grin spread across her face as well, one that gave Yang sudden chills at the lethality expressed on her once-innocent little sister. "Good. We can lure him into a confrontation, likely we'll have to deal with the entire team as they'll expect a trap… Okay. We can use this." The black-cloaked woman gave Junior a wink, her once-again flat grey eyes giving nothing away. "Thanks, Junior."

"Just a moment," Weiss interrupted firmly. Her ex-girlfriend turned to regard her levelly. "What is to prevent this man from contacting Ren ahead of us? Or that this information is even accurate?"

Ruby turned back to the burly bartender with an eyebrow quirked which caused him to shake his head warily.

"Because, sweetheart," Junior stated, his tone not one to be brokered with. "This is the scariest bitch in all of Remnant. No way, no how would I ever cross her."

"And don't you forget it." Ruby shot him another wink as she finally tossed her whiskey back, upturning it on the counter and dropping a high-denomination lien note next to it. "A pleasure as always, Junior."

**Vale Safehouse  
** **Two Days Later**

Yang sat on the couch in the apartment that she hadn't had cause to leave over the past day and a half. Overall, she was feeling abjectly useless.

Weiss had turned out to have picked up a few new tricks from her days running the R&D branch of the SDC. She was rather proficient with electronic surveillance, not to mention possessing a small amount of skill at hacking. She was currently perched at the table, pouring over her scroll while chewing on her lower lip thoughtfully. Between her efforts, and both Blake and Ruby's ability to flit about unseen, they had gathered a bit of intelligence on how and where JNPR now operated.

Ruby had been able to confirm that the team of their former friends rarely separated, in fact, they shared accommodations, a two-bedroom apartment on the western edge of the city. Currently, though, they were out on a quick mission to clear out a pack of Beowolves from a village to the west. Blake thought it unlikely they would do something as normal as break into pairs for dates upon their return, and Ruby had agreed.

Right now, the pair of them out in the field were on their way back to the safehouse to work on a plausible story that would attract Ren's attention. Weiss had a few ideas she'd gleaned from her own information gathering.

As for Yang… she'd been about as useful as a one-legged Creeper.

The blonde snorted quietly as she levered herself up off of the couch. Exercise and drinking could only fill up so many hours in the day, but perhaps she could get a little maintenance done on her sorry excuse for an arm replacement. While having a drink, of course.

She stomped into her room, leaving the door open as she dragged the small end table over so that she could bend over it while sitting on the bed. She pulled her orange tee shirt over her head, leaving her in only a black sports bra, while her small tool kit was dropped inelegantly onto the table surface.

There was still a full bottle of whiskey, cheap-ass stuff but enough to dull her senses and block out the constant stream of recriminations and despondent musings that seemed to plague her waking hours. She wasn't sure if reuniting with her former team had helped or worsened things, but she wasn't terribly eager to examine those feelings any further.

Instead, she sat the bottle firmly on the corner of the end table before settling onto the edge of the bed.

She held her arm out in front of her on the table surface, flexing her fingers into a fist and then relaxing them. Staring at the intricate gears and machinery that went on just below the surface, that through her aura she could feel as they moved, like an extension of her body…

It had taken her months to get used to the sensation, and months more before she could utilize the appendage with any sort of dexterity. All the while cursing the prosthetic that tried to replace what she'd lost. Tried to make her a whole woman again.

But she wasn't, and never would be.

With a sigh, she reached over with her left hand and grabbed the bottle, pulling the cap off with her teeth before taking a decent swallow. Another sigh followed, this one of relief as the cheap liquor burned its way down her throat, spreading its warmth throughout her system, just like her semblance used to, once upon a time…

Growling, she took another swig and then sat the bottle down. Naturally, she'd been right-handed, so the loss of that arm put her at a severe disadvantage. Before receiving her prosthetic, she'd worked on developing some amount of coordination using her off-hand, which came in useful when it was time to run maintenance on her artificial one.

Yang pulled out a set of screwdrivers, carefully easing the tip of the smallest one into the first of a set of holes. The screws themselves, fortunately, didn't come out, else she would have lost them all months ago. But after loosening enough, the hatch could be pried open.

Sure enough, recent use of  _Ember Celica_  had left detritus in the gears there. She took another tool, this one a wire brush, and set to work, her brow furrowed. It always felt weird, poking around inside her arm, like she shouldn't be able to do so, or at the least that it should be painful.

But it wasn't a real arm, so she couldn't feel pain. The burning sensations from her missing limb had eventually dissipated, perhaps half a year after the replacement arm was attached. Her  _aura_  could feel it now when her arm took a hit, or if she slipped up and jabbed into something sensitive, but it wasn't real. Just a… a phantom sensation.

In between her cleaning efforts, she took several more swallows from the whiskey bottle. Each subsequent one settled her nerves somewhat, but only externally. The doubts, the loathing was still lurking there beneath the surface, only covered up now by a pleasant haze.

Finished with the cleaning, she set the brush down and flicked the cover closed. This was the tricky part, keeping the section of her arm closed while screwing it down, and was difficult to do with steady hands.

Right now, of course, her hands were anything but. She barked out a furious curse as the hatch slipped open, sending the tiny screwdriver skidding away and out of reach from her grasping, trembling fingers.

"Shit! Shit fuck fucking shit!"

The blonde closed her eyes, her anger already bleeding away as despondency rose to take its place.

"Would you like some help?"

Yang's lilac eyes blinked open to regard the petite platinum-haired woman standing calmly in the doorway, screwdriver held up inquisitively. Her tone of voice was neutral, but the pale blue eyes were marginally warmer than she'd expected.

"Why?" she whispered tiredly.

"Why what?" Weiss walked into the room, sitting on the bed to her right and pointedly ignoring the almost-finished bottle of booze.

"Why bother with me?"

She frowned at that, turning the tiny tool over in her fingers while watching it avidly.

"We were friends once," she finally stated, her voice so soft that Yang had to strain to pick up on her words. "And… I'd like to think we could be friends again." Weiss finally looked up with a hesitant smile. "And besides that, we are teammates once more. As I've stated previously, teammates look out for each other, yes?"

Yang could only nod numbly. She didn't offer any resistance as the other woman took hold of her artificial arm and conscientiously worked the panel back into place.

"I can't imagine this is an easy job to do one-handed," she finally murmured, placing the tool onto the table while she moved the right arm into Yang's lap. "If you have further… issues… don't hesitate to ask me for help. I don't mind."

Clearing her throat, Weiss rose gracefully to her feet and headed for the door. "The others will be back in another hour, and then I expect we'll start planning. You should take a nap until then, it might make you feel better." Without a backward glance, she exited the room.

Yang just watched her depart thoughtfully, unable to gather any coherent reply or idea of what just happened.

Finally, she decided to take Weiss' advice and stretched out on her bed after chugging down the rest of the bottle.

Sweet unconsciousness followed soon thereafter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Ruby is such a player, gettin' some Red M &M's there. As for Yang… Yeah, just hold on to hope for her, it's coming, she just has a lot of shit to go through first.
> 
> Stay shiny!


	8. Chapter 8

**Mistral  
** **Five Years Ago**

"Ruby."

The brunette paused, her red hood pulled up tight. She really, really didn't want to do this, not after everything already done and said about it.

"Please, Ruby, talk to me."

She sighed, turning around and dropping her hood. Looking up and into caring emerald eyes, she was once again struck by the suspicion that the beautiful redhead might just harbor feelings for her far beyond the friendship they'd once shared, feelings that had incubated from when she'd saved her life at the top of Beacon's highest tower.

"I have to go," she whispered to her friend levelly.

Pyrrha hitched a breath, putting on a brave smile, the one she used so often to hide her true feelings. "I realize that… words were said," the taller girl began hesitantly, her fingers entwined at her waist. "But we can work past that…"

"Pyrrha, I killed him." Ruby regarded her with a sad smile. "I killed Mercury after we'd interrogated him, in cold blood. They can't accept that, and neither should you."

The redhead faced away, grief briefly flickering across her face. "He shouldn't have said that," she whispered brokenly. "It was… more than unkind. I do not blame you for…"

"Hey," she breathed, stepping forward. She reached up to place a hand on her friend's cheek, slightly damp from the tears she was valiantly trying to suppress. Ruby rubbed her thumb along her elegant cheekbone for just a second, momentarily entertaining what could have been. What could have replaced the hole that Weiss had left in her heart. "You've got Jaune, you both know how you feel about each other now, so… so stop holding yourself back, okay? Just… Just don't worry about me, I'll be fine." She smiled wanly. "You live your own life, Pyrrha. My path was set in a different direction the moment I took his life."

The redhead nodded, sniffling slightly before she leaned in and wrapped Ruby up in a hug. "Take care of yourself," she choked out, before letting go and walking back towards the campfire.

She watched her go for only a few heartbeats before turning and resuming her journey. "You too," she whispered over her shoulder.

None of her other former friends tried to stop her.

**Vale Docks  
** **Today**

The story they'd eventually settled upon, after much deliberation, was patently obvious. Nebulous information offered by an anonymous source, the origin masked by Weiss' skillful hand, and inferred references to Ren's estranged aunt, were sure to provoke some sort of reaction.

They'd worded it carefully, using their knowledge of Team JNPR and how they might react. Caution was fine, though even anticipating an ambush would be of little benefit to them in the end.

What Ruby specifically did  _not_  want, however, was for Lie Xiao to be tipped off and go into hiding. But the brunette was betting on the fact that Ren had only one way to communicate with the woman, and that he wouldn't risk using it on a hunch.

She frowned to herself slightly as the stealth Bulldog, skillfully piloted by Nix, banked in a wide circle around the meeting place. This section of the docks was almost certainly deserted, with no incoming or outgoing shipping scheduled until later that evening.

Ruby wasn't used to such uncertainties, nor was she completely confident in her understanding of her old friends' motivations.

They'd not parted on the best of terms, just over five years ago now.

She was broken from her reverie by a gentle bump against her shoulder. Blake gazed at her, one eyebrow quirked infinitesimally, as much concern as the raven-haired Faunus woman seemed to show nowadays. Such reticence suited the brunette perfectly well, to be honest.

Instead of replying directly, Ruby simply adjusted the black cloak around her shoulders and gave her a nod, which seemed to satisfy the other woman.

Another thing she was unused to these days, not just relying on another person, but… Could she say she trusted Blake, at this point? Perhaps. They understood each other, certainly, but trust was something once easily given, now clung to with stringent hands until earned several times over.

"Scanners show movement," Nix announced from the pilot's seat, her voice as calm and steady as her flying.

"Affirmative," Weiss replied. The platinum-haired woman was seated across from Ruby and Blake, occasionally reaching up to tuck her chin-length white hair back behind her ears as she concentrated on her scroll. Nix had helped her install a program prior to the mission to allow her to tie into the sensors of the stealth spec ops vessel.

"Do we have an entry point?" Ruby asked levelly.

Her former partner and lover nodded absentmindedly, not bothering to look up. "Yes, our primary insertion would work admirably. If we land now, we will have ten minutes before contact."

"Right," Yang grunted, the first she'd spoken since they'd boarded that morning. The blonde bruiser stood up and stretched. "Let's get a move on, then."

The brunette gave her sister a hard stare. She knew Yang was likely drunk off her ass early that morning and hoped to Oum that enough had worn off where she'd at least not be a hindrance to the team.

_Not that Oum has done me any favors, lately…_

"Let's do it," she simply affirmed with a nod. "Nix, set us down. We stick to the plan, nobody moves early. Got it?"

She caught each pair of eyes to reassert her conditions, amber then pale blue and finally bloodshot lilac. The latter flinched slightly but Yang nodded all the same.

_At least Weiss doesn't act so jumpy around me anymore. It's a start, I suppose._

_When did I start caring what others thought?_

She brushed the errant musing aside as the Bulldog banked sharply before rapidly descending. The jets were nearly silent, and hopefully even if heard would be attributed to an airship much further away than theirs was.

The four figures immediately jumped out, landing in crouches before sprinting off towards their predesignated positions. Nix wasted little time in dusting back off again, returning to her vigilance of the surrounding airspace.

"No other traffic so far," the Fox Faunus' voice whispered in Ruby's ear. "I'll sing out if that changes."

"Roger that," Ruby whispered back.

She was crouched low in the early morning shadows against a shipping container. The clearing before her was the designated meeting point, and directly across was the likeliest of entry points for the four fellow classmates.

 _Former classmates_ , she reminded herself grimly.  _We have nothing in common anymore and haven't for some time now._

Still, a little niggling voice in the back of her head brought up, yet again, the fact that it had taken Pyrrha so long to marry Jaune when it was obvious how they felt towards each other six years ago.

_It's not your responsibility. Their relationship is their business, keep your head in the game, Rose._

Her flat grey eyes scanned the perimeter, picking out where her reformed team members were lying in wait. Yang was easy to spot from where she was perched, but it was well-concealed from JNPR's approach. The blonde was rocking back and forth restlessly, her head hung low as she seemed to be muttering to herself under her breath, too low for the comms to pick up.

_She'll be fine, not your concern right now._

Weiss was similarly obvious, but she'd had the sense to situate herself behind a stack of white-painted crates so that she could peek around without giving herself away. She was the furthest situated from the center, providing support as was her strength. Though admittedly, the platinum-haired woman had grown into a powerhouse in her own right, were the footage Ruby had seen any indication.

Of Blake, there was no immediate evidence, but her sharp sniper's eyes soon picked out a subtle flash of amber from the shadows. Of course, she'd only seen the Cat Faunus' eyes because she knew precisely where to look.

_Nifty little trick she picked up. I wonder if she can expand it to include more than just herself? Or is the exact shape of her clone the only reason she can mold the shadows around herself now?_

The brunette's idle musings were interrupted by the glimpse of movement at the far end of the clearing. Soon enough, four familiar figures emerged from in between the shipping containers, weapons out and ready.

Only the merest glimmer of pain shot through Ruby's chest at the sight of her former friends, those she'd set out with from Patch on their long journey through Mistral. Jaune, looking rather more rugged with a close-shorn blonde beard, his armor upgraded even further from when they'd stopped in that village in Anima. Nora, her hair now longer but still as wild as ever,  _Magnhild_  hefted eagerly in both hands as her turquoise eyes roamed about, spoiling for a fight.

Ever-stoic Ren, hands at his sides and on his twin weapons. His hair was longer now, too, and tied back in a black and magenta ponytail.

Pyrrha…

The brunette gritted her teeth. This was no time for hesitation or remembrance. She had a job to do.

And one way or another, the job would get done.

Her gaze narrowed in on the tall redheaded warrior. Pyrrha hadn't done much in the way of upgrading her armor or weaponry, though her battleskirt was a bit longer, perhaps offering her more maneuverability, it was nothing that would cause a problem.

Time for phase one.

"Go," she murmured into her comm, immediately thereafter setting words into action.

The world blurred around her as she entered into the space seemingly in between heartbeats. Turns were a little harder to accomplish at these high speeds, but in a straight line, it was like she was never there, save for a slight breeze...

...And the path of destruction she left behind.

Her warscythe extended, she sped forward and through their formation, sweeping the feet out from under Pyrrha and Nora both and dropping their aura by a goodly amount. Once their heavy hitters were on the ground, the others would hopefully have an easier time of it.

Fatalities weren't the objective here, but in reality, only the survival of Ren was paramount.

She skidded to a halt just past the outer row of shipping containers, her scythe digging a furrow into the ground as she used it as a fulcrum to reverse her direction. A scattering of dark, blood-red rose petals was left in her wake as she sent herself airborne to fetch up atop a stack of the containers, twirling  _Crescent Rose_  around as she came to a halt. She embedded the tip of her weapon into the metal and focused down the length of her sniper rifle to see how the early stage of the battle was unfolding so far.

She let out a grunt of displeasure at the sight of both Nora and Pyrrha back on their feet already.  _Their reaction speed is better than I expected._  In addition, Yang had thrown herself into the fray without waiting for Blake to engage their opponents, and Ruby was able to catch the tail end of the blonde catching the head of a warhammer in her gut, sending her through one container and into another.

 _That's gonna smart,_  she winced.  _And no hesitation there at all from Nora on seeing the familiar face, so far this isn't going as expected._

_Well, no reason for things to go easy on me now when they haven't in a very long time._

All this flew through her head in a matter of milliseconds, taking in Blake's position with her clones currently engaged with Ren. Weiss' Beowolf was bearing down on Jaune and Pyrrha, who were bracing to engage the glowing Grimm apparition.

 _And it's not gonna last long against those two._  Without further hesitation, she opened fire on Pyrrha's back, high-velocity rounds arrowing in right between the redheaded woman's shoulder blades.

Of course, Pyrrha Nikos wasn't known as 'The Invincible Girl' for nothing. She reacted quickly to her aura-fueled instincts, ducking and rolling to the side to avoid the first pair of shots. The next ones, she sent off to the side with her semblance, the polarity creating a nigh-impenetrable shield around her against metallic objects.

 _Perfect,_  the brunette grinned from beneath her black cape's hood.

With the redhead immobilized and searching for her attacker, Ruby used her as a focal point for her attacks. Three shots ricocheted off and into Jaune's side, causing him to stumble and barely catch the Beowolf's claws on his shield. The next shot spun him around, dropping his aura down to the midpoint. The blond man was unable to brace himself against the ethereal Grimm's attack and was quickly pinned to the ground.

Switching targets, Ruby sent the next several rounds at Nora. The orange-haired woman had begun to move in support of her husband and partner, but was taken by surprise by the rapid assault against her aura defenses and tumbled to the ground, stunned.

Ruby let out a huff of air as Pyrrha stood up, raising her shield and dropping her semblance defense. She didn't think it would have worked as long as it did, but in any case, using her semblance to speed up her shots like that tended to abuse her sweetheart something fierce, from the firing mechanism to the bolt action to the now-steaming barrel.

Time for a different tactic, anyway.

"Weiss, move in," she muttered into the comm.

With that, the black-cloaked figure collapsed  _Crescent Rose_  and dropped to the ground, approaching the embattled Hunters at a leisurely pace. As she expected, Pyrrha noted her approach and kept a wary eye on her. The internal debate was clear, whether or not she should help her downed husband or other teammates, or deal with this apparently deadly threat.

Deciding to give her a little nudge in the correct direction, Ruby casually extended her weapon with one hand into its rifle form and fired a pair of shots off at Nora, who had almost regained her footing once more. The orange-haired hammer-wielder toppled to the ground again, groaning in pain from the direct impacts to her temple.

_Nora should be just out of aura now, Jaune too. Ren seems to be holding his own better than I thought he might, but Blake's wearing him down fast…_

Pyrrha broke out into a trot to intercept the dark-clad woman once Jaune gave her muffled reassurances he'd be fine, though Ruby found such a statement doubtful, slowing to a walk as they neared.

"Who are you?" she called out firmly. "Why have you attacked us?"

 _Huh, guess she didn't see Nora send Yang flying or she'd at least have some suspicion…_  "I need information," Ruby returned levelly. "And it's not information you would willingly part with. As for the who…"

The brunette tucked her weapon behind her back before she pulled the hood away to reveal her face.

"Hello again, Pyrrha," she greeted her old friend without a trace of emotion in her voice.

"...Ruby?" the redhead whispered incredulously. She came to a halt as if her legs were unwilling to carry her any further, and her grip on her weapons was even more tenuous than her stance. "Ruby, how… Why…?"

"I told you, information." Ruby's gunmetal eyes remained focused on the woman before her, though peripherally she noted the rest of the actions on the battlefield resolving as planned. "Ren knows how to get ahold of his aunt, and I need that. No more, no less."

"But…?"

"Pyrrha," she began, a hint of gentleness easing into her tone. "I need you to stand down and drop your weapons."

"I… No!" The redheaded Huntress' stance firmed back up as she gripped her sword and shield tightly. "I can't let you…"

"Pyrrha," the brunette said once more. "Look around."

Only then did Ruby allow her gaze to leave her former friend to take in the remnants of the battle.

The rest of Team JNPR was down and out cold. Weiss' Beowolf was now crouched over Ren, growling softly, while Weiss herself stood guard over Nora.

By the sharp intake of breath, Ruby could tell precisely when Pyrrha finally noticed Blake positioned over the prone form of her blond husband,  _Gambol Shroud_  in pistol form and pressed to his forehead. The Cat Faunus sat on her haunches, coiled to react to any further threat, amber eyes zeroed in on the pair still standing.

"Drop. Your. Weapons."

There was no further hesitation before the sharp  _clang_  of Pyrrha's shield hitting the concrete rang across the docks, followed by the clatter of  _Milo_.

The redhead turned slightly, her tear-streaked and disbelieving face in profile. "I… I don't understand…"

"You don't need to. Stay put and nothing will happen to Jaune." Ruby began to stride towards Ren and the Alpha Beowolf but made sure to take note of Pyrrha resigned nod of acceptance first.

"Weiss," she called out softly as she passed. The former heiress gestured sharply, dissipating her summons.

Ruby crouched over Ren, wasting little time in giving him a sharp slap against his face, twice. By the second strike, the man was blinking his magenta eyes and groaning.

"I'll make this quick," Ruby intoned, "as I'm sure you don't want to converse with me any more than I do with you. I need the contact information for your aunt, Lie Xiao. Yes," she interjected, cutting off his intended retort, "I know the two of you are estranged. I also know she left a way to contact her. Give it to me now, and no further harm will come to Nora."

Ren's eyes widened before his head whipped around from where he still lay prone. The brunette carefully watched every facial tic and expression on the impassive man. She was stretching things a bit, so far the supposition of a means of contact was just that. They had no real concrete evidence of such, but seeing how he'd turned up to the meet, it shouldn't be that far of a stretch. And hopefully, the sight of Weiss, pale blue eyes hard and glittering in the early morning light, with her rapier to an unconscious Nora's throat, would be enough of an encouragement.

"Very well," Ren replied, his lips barely moving. "I can give you her scroll number."

"Not so fast," Ruby warned, cognizant of many late-night planning sessions where Weiss had theorized on different aspects of such a link. "The call can only be made from your own scroll, correct?"

A brief flash of chagrin passed across the raven-haired man's face before he nodded.

_Excellent, another correct guess._

"Unlock it for me," she ordered. "Let me see you do it, so I know the passcode. And if you mess with it in any other fashion, your wife's life is forfeit."

Ren stared up into her eyes as he slowly drew his scroll from the green tunic lying partially open. "I would believe such a threat coming from you," he stated softly. "I can see you've only traveled further down the path of death from when we last met. But what about Weiss?"

Ruby smiled, but it was entirely humorless. Her gaze hard and unforgiving, she leaned in slightly while keeping the scroll in her peripheral vision.

"She works for me now, as do the others. I say kill… they kill."

"I see." Ren swallowed thickly, evidently all too willing to believe the woman looming above him with such a deadened, emotionless gaze. He held his hand up, slowly moving his thumb across to pick out the correct combination. Ruby nodded as she murmured the code into her comm for Weiss' benefit, she would take immediate control of the device to ensure there were no other tricks such as fingerprint verification of the like.

Without further ado, Ruby plucked the scroll from Ren's fingers and stood, rapidly striding away and ignoring the pained groans from behind her as the exhausted man struggled to regain his footing.

"Nix, ready for evac. Blake, see to Yang." As she passed the platinum-haired woman, she tossed the scroll to her. Weiss caught it adroitly and immediately began to work on it as she stalked over towards the retrieval site with quick strides, head bent over her task.

"Ruby?"

The brunette paused at the sound of the tremulous voice.  _Shit._

"It didn't have to be this way," Pyrrha whispered, just at the edge of her hearing. "You could have just… I mean, we could have…"

Ruby sighed and pulled the hood up over her head. "This is where my path led," she stated softly, for some reason compelled to give some sort of… closure, perhaps? "There's nothing anyone can do about it, what's done is done. But you should go take care of your team."

She heard the sniffle as Pyrrha valiantly tried to hold back the tears of anger and hurt. "Do you think so little of your former friends now?" she asked accusingly.

Ruby looked over towards the evacuation site, where the stealth Bulldog had already settled down. Weiss was inside, legs crossed at the knee and a look of intense concentration on her face as her fingers flew along the scroll in her hands. Blake was hauling Yang's limp form onto the floor of the vessel, the blonde evidently still out cold.

She gave the redhead a quick glance over her shoulder.

"I left them alive," she stated simply before using her semblance to vanish from one spot and reappear on board the Bulldog just as it rose into the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Well, that was some reunion. I don't want it to seem as if JNPR were total pushovers, as they were, in effect, ambushed and unaware of who they were up against until it was too late. Pyrrha was obviously the biggest threat, and Ruby neutralized her by playing to her soft side, as it were. Apologies if this seemed a tad anticlimactic, there will be much tougher fights ahead.
> 
> Stay shiny!


	9. Chapter 9

**Beacon  
** **Seven Years Ago**

Blake lay, exhausted, across the limp form of her blonde lover. The both of them were sweaty, panting desperately, and quite naked.

She wasn't really sure what it was that sparked their latest argument, perhaps something about conflicting schedules or even a perceived jealousy on one or another's part. It didn't really matter in the end, as the following physicality was enough to wash away any such lingering negative feelings.

As bad as their fighting sometimes got, it just made the makeup sex all the better. Oftentimes, much to their roommates' chagrin. Ruby and Weiss had taken to slowly gathering up their belongings once the latest heated fight got underway, quickly picking up on the cues for when they'd need to vacate the room for a few hours.

Still, while theirs was an oftentimes contentious relationship, it was one she'd never consider leaving. The Cat Faunus would always come back to the vibrant woman, there was simply no way she could remain away from her sunshine, her warmth.

"Blakey?" a muffled voice murmured.

"Mmm?"

"Love ya."

"Mmhmm."

**Vale Safehouse  
** **Today**

When Yang came to her senses, she was sprawled across the sofa in the living room of the safehouse. She moaned softly, clutching her head as she struggled to sit up.

"Ugh," she groaned. "The fuck hit me?"

"Nora," a clipped voice returned from nearby.

"Oh, right…" The blonde finished regaining a somewhat vertical position, leaning her head back on the back of the couch as she blearily peered at the owner of the voice. Ruby was standing in the middle of the room, her arms crossed and with an unusual emotion filling her normally expressionless eyes.

Irritation.

"What?" Yang demanded bitterly. "I moved in like we planned-"

"No, you didn't," Ruby retorted. "You went early. You fucked up. And you were knocked out of the fight, right away."

The blonde shook her head, threads of anger worming their way into her gut. The table had been removed from the room, leaving the middle of it open, while Blake and Weiss stood nearby. Curiously, they were practically shoulder-to-shoulder against the wall, observing the sisters dispassionately.

"She got a lucky shot in," the brawler insisted with a growl.

"Or maybe you're just incompetent."

"What?" she barked, her anger rising to the fore once again, but still not enough to change her eyes, she knew. There was never enough anger, enough rage to push aside all of the self-loathing, the shame. She pushed herself unsteadily to her feet. "I'm plenty capable-"

"No, you're not!" Ruby shouted, face screwed up in fury for the first time since they'd been reunited. "You're slow and you've lost your edge!"

"Bullshit!" the blonde roared, fists clenched angrily at her side.

"Prove it!" The brunette stood with her arms open wide, letting her black cloak flutter to the floor behind her. "Come on then, try and hit me!"

Yang growled, her lilac eyes just barely tinged with red. "I'm not fighting you."

"'Cause you can't!" her younger sister taunted. "See, this is why I killed Neo before you could fight her - you're weak! She would have taken you out easy!"

It took a moment for that to sink in, and it was enough to send the blonde over the edge. With a scream of fury, she launched herself forward at the brunette, fists swinging wildly, only to be met by air.

A minute smattering of rose petals, dark red like the color of dried blood, drifted to the floor as Ruby easily evaded her sister's ineffective swings. Yang grew more infuriated by the second, but it only made her more erratic and wild as she desperately tried to hit the elusive scythe-wielder.

Finally, Ruby decided to put an end to it. In the blink of an eye, she ended up behind the blonde, kicking her knees out and sending her crashing face-first into the ground, where she lay, sobbing in anger and frustration.

"You're weak," Ruby stated again, softly this time as she knelt down to retrieve her cloak, wrapping it around her shoulders like a shroud. As she raised her hood to hide her face, she turned to regard her sister solemnly. "But you don't have to be."

Yang screamed again, pounding her fists on the floor as she rose to her feet as well. She faced Ruby, her face streaked with tears. "Why? Why am I here?" She flung her hands out to encompass the two of them, as well as Weiss and Blake who regarded their altercation as if they were statues. "I mean, look at all of you! You're right, Ruby, I'm nothing, all I've been doing is bringing in petty crooks and bail jumpers and…" She clenched her fists by her side once more, one of flesh and the other of metal, closing her eyes wearily. "I can't keep up with any of you anymore, I'm not even a whole person… Why am I even here?"

The room was still, only Yang's harsh breathing splitting the silence. And then Ruby took a half step forward, pulling her hood back once again to regard her sister intently.

"You're here because there's nobody I'd trust to have my back more than the three of you."

The silence following that statement was more shocked than anything.

"Ruby?" the ex-heiress murmured inquisitively. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean…" The brunette sighed, looking down at the floor. Her bangs swept forward to hide her face. "Ozpin approached me first. He wanted me to tackle this on my own, but I knew I couldn't and it… it was too important to just, y'know… use it as an excuse to finally off myself. He offered to give me a team, and… and I told him there was only one team I'd ever trust to work with. And that's you guys."

She sighed once more, looking around at their stunned expressions. "So, yeah, you're here because of me. And… I'm sorry for that, if you really feel like you don't want to be here, but… I knew what I was getting into, I've kept tabs on all of you and knew what… I knew what you were all going through, what you've done…" She sucked in a quick breath before letting it out in a huff.

"So there you go, this is all my fault. But I needed you guys, and I still do." Her eyes, showing just a hint of the earnest silver from her teenage years, looked at Yang searchingly. "I need  _all_  of you at my side. I need you whole, and… Yang, your arm isn't holding you back. What's inside of you, the thing you keep feeding with the drinking…  _that's_ what's holding you back. And I need you, Yang."

Ruby turned around, flipping her hood back up. "I'm gonna work out a bit in my room and then get some sleep. I'll see you all in the morning."

As she departed, she left the other three girls to stare at each other incredulously.

* * *

The four of them had gone to their separate rooms for awhile within the safe house. Some to ruminate on what they'd learned, and one, in particular, to burn off some excess energy.

Ruby had cleared the area at the foot of her bed for her workout. She was clothed in only exercise shorts and a sports bra, all in black, with her hair bound behind her in a ponytail that exposed the red-dyed portion normally hidden underneath. Her lean limbs were dripping with sweat as she alternated hands while doing one-armed push-ups, legs out straight behind her. Her ropey muscles bunched and stretched, causing the myriad of scars to ripple in the overhead lighting.

The brunette paused as she heard a light rapping on the door. "Enter," she called out curtly, quickly finishing up her set.

In her peripheral vision, she noted the dainty, bare feet poking out from under white pants. A brief grin flickered across her face as she noted the light blue nail polish.  _She still hasn't changed colors._

With a huff of air, Ruby leapt back to her feet with a bounce, glancing towards her former girlfriend who was still standing hesitantly by the closed door.

"Something on your mind, Weiss?" she asked levelly while reaching towards the dresser for a towel. As she dried her face and upper chest off, she wordlessly gestured towards her bed, where the platinum-haired woman finally perched, tugging self-consciously at the hem of her pale blue blouse.

She couldn't help but smirk slightly as she picked up a bottle of water, slinging the towel across her shoulders as she took the only chair in the room. "This doesn't bother you, does it?"

"No, not really," Weiss murmured.

Ruby paused at the tone in her voice, bottle raised to her lips. It was more than thoughtful, more like... melancholy.

"What's on your mind?" she repeated, this time a bit more gently.

The other woman shifted on the edge of the bed, her eyes flickering about before they finally settled upon the room's occupant. "I owe you an apology. Well, many, really, but… That one day, in Atlas…"

"Yeah." Ruby sighed and eased herself back in the wooden chair. "Not a great day."

"No, it really wasn't." Weiss cleared her throat gently. "I've had… many regrets over my lifetime, but how I handled that day… our breakup… is perhaps the biggest regret of them all."

The brunette nodded slowly. "If I were to be honest, I lost my temper, too. Neither of us was thinking too clearly."

"And neither of us were really listening, either."

"Well, I kinda figured out eventually what you had planned. I mean, obviously, you couldn't tell me in the middle of the SDC lobby, but…"

"Yes, well…" Weiss sighed softly, looking down at her hands now folded in her lap. "I suppose we've moved too far past that now, haven't we?"

Ruby frowned slightly. "Were you expecting… more?"

"No, no, not at all," the other woman assured her hurriedly. "I just… Are we able to go back to being friends again, at the least?"

The brunette regarded the woman steadily. Her former friend, teammate, partner, girlfriend, lover… So many labels to define what she once meant to her. But now…?

"I think," she began tentatively, "we could maybe try. Not much in common anymore, though."

"We have a history together," Weiss disagreed gently. "While we can't revisit our past, it  _does_ tie us together."

"Is that enough, on its own?"

"No, but it's a start."

Ruby grunted and took another swig of water. "Alright then," she finally stated. "Friends."

"Friends," Weiss smiled softly, though it quickly turned into a frown. "Don't expect a hug right now when you haven't showered."

"It's okay, I'm not much of a hugger anymore."

"No, I suppose not… Well…" Weiss got to her feet, another small smile on her face. "I'll leave you to it, then."

"'Night, Weiss."

"Goodnight, Ruby."

The platinum-haired woman got to the door, opening it only to reveal a certain Cat Faunus standing there, hand upraised and an eyebrow quirked in curiosity.

"Erm, excuse me," Weiss offered as she slinked around the raven-haired woman. She gave one last, skittish glance over her shoulder before disappearing down the hallway.

Ruby didn't bother getting up from her chair but waved Blake inside with her free hand. "C'mon in, seems everyone wants to talk tonight."

"Seems that way," Blake agreed as she shut the door behind her. She was clad in soft sleep shorts in an off-white color with a black tanktop, obviously not wearing a bra, but still carried  _Gambol Shroud_  with her. Ruby noted with some amusement that it was another differentiation between Weiss and the two of them who never went anywhere, even inside the safe house, without their weapons on-hand.

Blake sat her weapon against the nightstand and then slid onto the middle of the bed, lounging there with her legs crossed in front of her at the ankles and leaning back on her hands.

"So, what did Weiss want?"

"Oh, you know," Ruby replied airily, mopping the rest of the sweat off of her torso. "Regrets about how we ended things, being friends again, that sort of stuff."

"Mmm. So she didn't want to restart things with you?"

"Nope. We both figure we're too far past that."

"Mmm." Blake regarded her with amber eyes that shone with an emotion Ruby hadn't seen in quite some time. And certainly not one she'd ever directed towards her. "I think I agree, though, the two of you aren't really suited anymore."

"Really?" Ruby got up from the chair, dropping her towel on the seat behind her as she took another swig from the almost-empty bottle. "So, who would you say is best for someone like me?"

"Well," the raven-haired woman smirked. "I'd think perhaps someone who understands you  _now_ , not who you were  _then_."

Ruby grinned widely, dropping the bottle to the table as she sauntered over to the bed. She unabashedly crawled up to straddle the other woman. "Someone like you, maybe?"

"Mmhmm."

The brunette hovered over the Faunus woman, skin just inches away from touching. "So, what, friends with benefits?"

"I can work with that," Blake purred huskily. The raven-haired woman darted in for a kiss, and once the contact was made, pulled Ruby back with her on top of the bed.

* * *

Yang sat on the edge of her bed in her tanktop and shorts pajama set, scowling at the full bottle of whiskey that stood on the edge of her nightstand. She'd not had a drop to drink since waking up from the pummeling she'd received at the hands of her orange-haired former friend, and she desperately wanted to avoid doing so again.

It was just so damn  _tempting_  to wash away the doubts that plagued her incessantly. The guilt from having failed her team, her sister, yet again.

The condemnations from Ruby echoed in her head, stinging with an almost physical pain as she knew they were true. Everyone had moved on but her, and the only thing holding her back…

Was herself.

She almost fell off her perch when a knock sounded on the door.

"Yeah?" she called out somewhat querulously.

Her irritation eased when a familiar white-maned head poked past the door frame. "Am I interrupting?" Weiss asked with a trace of asperity.

"No, no, just... " The blonde let out an irritable huff of air, though it was squarely aimed at herself. "Sorry, didn't mean to bite your head off or anything."

"Well, you've had a rough day," the petite woman conceded levelly. She slid in and closed the door behind her, standing there in bare feet, white trousers, and her pale blue blouse untucked, hands behind her back while leaning against the frame. "Nora always did hit like a charging Goliath."

"Yeah, she always did," Yang chuckled ruefully, rubbing the back of her neck with her natural hand. She couldn't help but glance over at the bottle again, nor hide the grimace that accompanied it.

The other woman picked up on her focus and took a few steps into the room. Her gaze was riveted on Yang, though it remained level and expressionless.

"Can I help?" she murmured hesitantly.

Yang swallowed past the lump in her throat. She knew the burning sensation was all in her head, the desperation for a drink causing a physical reaction that she just couldn't subside.

"Please," the blonde replied in a hoarse whisper. "Can you… just…"

"Get rid of it?" At Yang's nod, the platinum-haired woman smoothly walked over, picked the bottle up, and headed into the small bathroom. "Any others?" her voice drifted back to where she still sat.

Yang clenched her hands in her lap, noting how the left one was trembling slightly. "Under the sink."

Over the sound of liquid running down the sink, she heard the bottom cabinet open and close again. "So…" Weiss began nonchalantly, still out of view. "I think our exes are together."

"Our… Wait, you mean Ruby and Blake?"

"Mmhmm." The diminutive woman walked back into the room then, delicately lowering herself onto the wooden chair sitting in the corner by the front door.

The blonde tilted her head in curiosity. "Why d'you think that?"

Weiss fidgeted with her hands in her lap. "I was… talking… with Ruby in her room. Clearing the air, as it were." She glanced away and licked her lips uncertainly. "Blake went in as I left. I saw… Well. She had that look in her eyes."

Despite herself, Yang barked out a short laugh. " _That look?_ " she repeated, her voice laced with humor. "What kinda look?"

The platinum-haired woman offered Yang a small smile. "The only times I've seen such a predatory look in Blake's eyes were when she was with you."

"Oh." The blonde stared down at her bare feet, a hint of a frown on her features. She couldn't quite decide how she felt about this new development, logically she should feel  _something_  negative, but right now, all she could muster was weary resignation.

"If they hadn't been together previously," Weiss added softly, "they definitely are at this moment."

Yang grunted, crossing her arms under her bosom. "Well… Good."

"Really?" There was more than a trace of skepticism in Weiss' reply, but now that the words left her mouth, Yang could only nod as the opinion firmed in her head.

"Yeah, good. Good for them, I'm okay with it. I mean…" She let out a rueful chuckle. "Ain't no way Blake and I were ever gettin' together again, y'know? Besides how much we changed, I just can't…"

Weiss waited for a few heartbeats after Yang trailed off before she gently attempted to finish the sentence for her. "You can't trust her again?"

"Yeah, I suppose that's the bottom line, ain't it? I can forgive her, sure, but I don't think I could ever trust her to… well, trust  _me_  enough not to run again."

"It's… a valid concern, I think."

"It is?" Yang's head popped up from where she'd been contemplating her toenails. "You… think so?"

"Absolutely." Weiss sighed as she shifted her position in the chair. "I think… that the two of you truly aren't compatible anymore, in any case."

"Yeah, guess not." The blonde allowed a small, bitter sigh to escape, clenching her hands once again.

The silence stretched between the two for some time before Weiss spoke up once more, her voice soft and hesitant.

"Do you recall... back at Beacon, just before Ruby asked me out?"

Yang frowned slightly as she returned the pale blue gaze. "Um, I mean, kinda…"

"You and Blake were on the rocks once again." Weiss sighed in reminiscence. "One of the few times you actually broke up after one of your fights, almost seemed like for good this time."

"Oh, yeah… Yeah, I remember that now… What were we even mad about that time?"

"I don't recall, exactly, but…" Weiss swallowed and glanced away shyly. "I was actually… considering asking  _you_  out, just on a date, really. But before I could summon up the courage, your sister made the first move."

"Huh. No kiddin'." Yang grinned at the smaller woman's slight discomfort. "Didn't think you were all that keen on me at the time."

"Yes, well, you did have your moments. And besides that…" Weiss cleared her throat, looking away as a blush formed on her face. "You certainly had a particular… physical attractiveness about you."

The blonde covered her mouth to suppress the laughter that threatened to break forth. "Are you… You're sayin' you thought I was a hottie, huh?"

Weiss let out an exasperated huff of air, though her blush only intensified. "I said nothing of the sort, you oaf."

"Uh-huh. Right."

The silence this time was a companionable one as the two women almost fell back into the easy camaraderie they once had. Almost, that is, until Yang's gaze fell upon her artificial arm and her previously jovial expression fell once more.

"Well, I guess that changed now," the blonde muttered, holding her right hand up and letting it drop. "Hunk of metal like this makes me a helluva lot less desireable."

Weiss' answer, though whispered, struck Yang with the clarity of a ringing bell.

"No, it doesn't at all."

Yang stared at the petite woman incredulously, though she wouldn't return the look. Instead, she cleared her throat and got up, taking a step towards the door.

"Wait."

Weiss froze at the request, shivering slightly though she didn't utter another word, merely waited for Yang to continue.

The blonde swallowed, hard. Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she valiantly tried to collect her thoughts, her feelings. "Do you… Will you stay with me tonight?"

At that, Weiss finally looked over, her pale blue eyes shining with emotion. She nodded wordlessly, slipping out of her trousers with a few quick motions before padding over towards the bed. She paused there before moving purposefully to sit on the blonde woman's right side. Weiss hesitantly ran her hand along the prosthetic arm, a tender sort of look flitting across her face.

Yang, though, winced slightly. "Sorry," she apologized quietly. "I'm sure it's pretty cold."

The platinum-haired woman laughed lightly. "I'm used to the winters in Atlas, this is nothing."

The two woman gazed at each other, somewhat wonderingly, their faces mere inches apart even with the height difference. Weiss' hand continued to slowly move along her artificial arm, stroking back and forth.

Yang wasn't sure who moved first, but before she knew it their lips were pressed together in a tentative kiss. It soon firmed up into something deeper as each woman poured their pent-up emotions into the act, their desperation and loneliness and hope and fear and passion.

After some indeterminable length of time, the two parted, breathing heavily. Weiss had managed to climb into the blonde's lap, much to her amusement, and she was sure her lips were just as swollen as the other's.

"Okay," Yang panted, resting her forehead against the petite woman's. "I just… I gotta say this first, alright? I haven't… been… with anyone since Blake, so I'm gonna be really, really rusty."

Weiss giggled breathlessly in response. "And I haven't been with anyone since Ruby, so that's perfectly fine." She drew back, eyes sparkling like pale sapphires. "We'll figure things out again together."

"I like this plan," Yang smirked before dropping back against the bed. Weiss let out a soft squeal that was soon swallowed up in another steamy kiss.

* * *

Ruby and Blake lay on their sides, slowly running their hands along each other's bodies. Their touch was rather gentle, probing at old and new scars and running along taut abdominal muscles.

"You know, it's funny," the brunette stated softly, an almost wondrous look in her eyes that softened the gunmetal grey to something closer to their former silvery luster. "We have matching scars now."

Blake's hand drifted down to rest against the angry red puckered flesh against Ruby's stomach, much as the brunette's was against the faded scar from the Battle of Beacon. "We do," she affirmed quietly.

"Caused by the same sword, even."

"Mmm." The raven-haired woman quirked an eyebrow. "Have I properly thanked you yet for killing Adam?"

"Well, not in so many words," Ruby grinned back. "But I'm always up for further direct displays of gratitude."

The Cat Faunus gave a throaty purr as she leaned in, wrapping her arms around the slightly taller girl even as she pushed her onto her back, kissing her along her collarbone.

"Round two," Blake whispered eagerly.

* * *

Yang lay on her back under the covers, her artificial arm securely holding the smaller woman against her chest while the other ran fingers through the snowy expanse of short hair. She marveled idly on how the petite woman didn't seem to have grown any in the time since she saw her last before everything changed.

 _And how weird is this, me an' her ending up together._  She let a soft smile creep across her face.  _Maybe it's not just a convenience, either. Maybe… Well, maybe we get each other enough to make it work._

_Maybe._

Weiss had told her recently that she needed a purpose. Perhaps she found one in the petite woman nestled in her arms. Maybe even, if she dared to get her hopes up… Maybe even a sort of salvation for the blonde brawler, lost and adrift for so long.

The platinum-haired woman stirred slightly. "You're thinking very loudly," she mumbled into her chest. "You should go back to sleep."

Yang chuckled lightly. "Okay, princess."

For the first time ever, the nickname didn't hold any of the teasing implications it usually did. Instead, it now held a connotation far more endearing.

She contentedly wrapped both arms around Weiss and drifted back to sleep, a soft smile on her face and without a trace of the usual despairing thoughts that usually kept her up at night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** And here's a helping of both Ladybug and Freezerburn for your shipping needs.
> 
> Stay shiny!


	10. Chapter 10

**Vale  
** **Three Years Ago**

Blake clutched her katana with a white-knuckled grip. It was the only outward display of emotion she exhibited, and that alone was a deviance in her typically emotionless demeanor.

Before her cowered a Human male. Perhaps in his forties, brown-haired, balding, and with spectacles. Tan shirt, ripped slightly but well-made, spoke of some wealth, though the slacks looked to be a simple black. Of his shoes, there was no evidence.

She could only clinically note the details of the figure in front of her, lest she fall into the trap of regarding it as a… person. Someone who might have a family at home waiting for him to arrive after work. Someone who had friends who would miss him when he didn't show up for their weekly get-together at a restaurant or bar.

A person who was obviously terrified out of his mind, shaking so badly that the chair he was tied to practically vibrated in place.

Still, his mouth was left unbound. It wouldn't do to muffle him when the whole point of this endeavour was to get him to talk.

That wasn't her job, though. Her's came later, but she was forced to watch the proceedings anyway. Watch as White Fang specialists took their time with him, sharp and cruel instruments digging in, ferreting out the answers they wanted. The information was spilled from frothing lips soon enough, in between pained screams and desperate pleadings.

Finally, satisfied with what he'd obtained, Adam looked over at her with a sadistic smirk.

"You're up, darling," he said with a low murmur.

She pushed it all down, tamped it behind steel doors. Her fears and apprehension for the detested tasks she was still given to test her loyalty. Her self-loathing for being too cowardly to take another path, for bowing to the wishes of the man she once considered a mentor, a friend, a lover.

Face unchanging from her neutral mask, Blake stepped forward. Her hand flashed out, the sword neatly severing the bound man's head from his shoulders.

As she emotionlessly watched the blood spurt upward from the stump atop the corpse, Blake didn't react at all to the arm that wrapped around her waist.

"Well done, my love."

She didn't reply. It was much easier to simply let it all fall away from her, like rain sliding down a pane of glass.

If she couldn't feel, she wouldn't succumb to the madness awaiting her just at the edge of the shadows.

Wordlessly, Blake followed the White Fang members as they departed, leaving behind the headless corpse as a calling card, along with the three bloody claw marks left on the wall of the abandoned warehouse.

The door to her emotions bulged ever so slightly, but she firmly pushed them back. This was her life now, even if in her dreams she sometimes recalled happier times spent with her team. Those pleasant dreams were becoming less frequent and cloudier with each life that she callously took.

Blake wondered, dimly, how long it would be before her insides matched how cold and heartless she was on the outside.

**Atlas  
** **Today**

The Bulldog cut through the air smoothly, the dark stealthy vessel arrowing across the water towards their destination. All four former students sat in much the same arrangement as when they'd flown to Vacuo, with a couple of important differences.

Blake glanced across the aisle to see Yang with her head back and eyes closed. She was sweating a bit, the smell she gave off rancid and putrid to her senses, but she understood what that entailed.

Her body was beginning to detoxify.

Aura was a funny thing, sometimes. It could protect a person from harm and heal a wound if one was taken that it couldn't prevent. Aura gave muscles a boost and powered semblances.

Some wounds couldn't be healed, though. If a Hunter suffered massive internal injuries, enough that their aura was depleted for an extended period of time, those injuries would heal at a much slower rate and frequently not all the way.

The raven-haired woman allowed her gaze to slide down towards her former lover's right arm. Aura was also woefully inadequate at regrowing lost limbs.

Toxins, now, reacted in different ways. Poisons and the like seemed to be unaffected by aura. As for long-term alcohol usage… Well, as was evidenced by several alcoholics she knew, permanent liver damage was a rarity for those with their aura unlocked.

She wasn't sure how Yang would react, though, with her attempt to cut the consumption of alcohol entirely out of her life.

And then Blake's eyes slid over to the platinum-haired woman currently leaning up against Yang, her short-cropped white bob half covering the side of her face as she slept against the blonde bruiser's shoulder.

 _I wasn't expecting that,_  she admitted thoughtfully.

The Cat Faunus tried to ascertain how she felt about the two of them hooking up as they seemed to have done overnight. It didn't take long for the realization that she didn't really care, one way or another. Yang's love life was certainly no concern for her any longer.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" a soft voice murmured at her shoulder.

She glanced over, blinking as she focused on a chin instead of the silver eyes she expected to be there. Blake's ears gave an irritable twitch as she realized she'd almost fallen back into the old mindset of her team.

The Faunus woman instead looked up and into the smirking face of her team leader and lover, grey eyes dancing with a degree of emotion not seen often since they'd reunited.

"I think you might have an idea," she stated drily.

Ruby gave a muted chuckle as she faced forward again, leaning over slightly to bump her shoulder against Blake's. "Any regrets?"

"With her?" The raven-haired woman shook her head briefly. "No."

"And us?"

That got Blake to smirk, glancing back with one eyebrow raised. "Definitely not."

"Good." Ruby leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "Had to use my aura this morning to heal my back."

Blake blushed as she remembered the long bloody furrows she'd left. "Sorry about that…"

"Hey, did I say I minded?"

"Er, no…"

"I don't." Ruby chuckled lightly, her eyes still closed. "Lookin' forward to the next time, maybe I can return the favor."

If anything, Blake blushed harder, unused to both discussing such things openly or the warm feeling she got in her belly when she reminisced upon the previous night and thought about the opportunity for an encore.  _It's nice to... feel again. I missed it._

Before she could answer, though, a rough voice interrupted them.

"I swear to Oum, I don't wanna be here for this conversation," Yang grumbled irritably.

"Go back to sleep, Yang," the brunette retorted mildly.

"Yeah, yeah…"

They were quiet for a few moments before Blake felt the Bulldog bank slightly. Evidently, they were coming into Atlesian airspace now, their pilot adjusting the flight to accommodate for commercial patterns.

"You think she can do this?" the Faunus whispered. "Dry out?"

Ruby was quiet for so long, she wondered if the brunette had heard her. Finally, the black-cloaked girl stirred slightly.

"You know… I think she can."

"The old Yang Xiao Long, sure, most stubborn and willful girl I'd ever met aside from Weiss. Now, though…?"

"She's trying," Ruby murmured just at the edge of her hearing. "And Weiss will help. As will I."

Blake nodded slowly. "As will I," she echoed. She grinned at the sideways glance the brunette gave her. "We're a team again. As much as our past defines us… We have to look past that. Keep moving forward."

"Yeah." Ruby let out a long, contemplative sigh. "Haven't really felt that way in some time."

"Neither have I."

A brief hiss preceded their pilot's announcement over the cabin speakers. "We're five minutes out," Nix announced with her usual cheer. "Sure you don't want to get to the safe house first?"

Ruby levered herself up and poked her head into the cockpit. "No, what we have is time-sensitive. Won't be long before she gets wind of our efforts to track her down."

Blake could see the redheaded Fox Faunus nod her head agreeably. "No worries. We should be in range of the towers now."

Both Weiss and Yang had stirred during the conversation, and upon hearing the latter, the platinum-haired woman immediately pulled a bag out from under her seat. "I'll get set up now," she announced levelly.

Ruby sat back down and watched her former partner assemble her gear. An advanced laptop was paired with both her scroll and that of Ren's. Soon enough, she was ready to go, nimble fingers flying across the keyboard as she enabled the complex algorithm to triangulate Lie Xiao's scroll.

"Pretty damn impressive that you could throw something like this together," the blonde commented idly.

The pleased smirk across Weiss' face was as fleeting as the blush that accompanied it. "Yes, well… I didn't actually write the program, that was done by an employee in the SDC R&D department. I have, however, modified it for our means."

"Still, pretty damn impressive," Yang repeated.

Ruby and Blake shared a smirk. "Such a cute couple," the brunette commented.

"Mmm."

"Oh, do shut up," Weiss retorted with only a trace of asperity, an absentminded frown on her face as she scanned the readout in front of her. She leaned back slightly and angled herself towards the cockpit door, though her eyes remained trained on the screen. "Nix, northern quadrant, city proper."

"Roger that," their pilot replied tersely. The stealth Bulldog banked once more as it put on a brief spurt of speed.

"Right," the diminutive woman murmured, finger poised over the keyboard. "Should be… just about… here!" Weiss gave an exultant shout, tapping a few more keys before pulling the cord from her scroll and tucking it into the folds of her white pants that she wore under the dark blue cloak around her shoulders. "Set us down, Nix!"

"On it!"

Weiss turned towards the others with a confident smirk. "Looks to be coming from a marketplace nearby. I can't triangulate any further, but if we hurry we can still catch her."

"Right." Ruby stood up, drawing her own black cloak around her body. "We all clear on the plan?"

"Crystal," the Cat Faunus reported tersely.

Yang gave a confident nod, though her movements seemed a little wobbly. "Not gonna let you down this time," she grunted, one fist clenched at her side while the other gripped an overhead restraint.

The brunette gave her a nod of acceptance. "I know you won't," she replied softly, though her face remained unreadable.

As they turned towards the side door, Blake caught sight of Weiss gripping the blonde's fist, coaxing it into an open palm for her to slip her dainty hand into.

_Yeah, maybe they're going to be good for each other. Better than the two of us were, anyway._

"Down in one," Nix announced. "I'm gonna have to dust right back off again, but I'll remain on-station."

Weiss nodded in reply as she pulled the dark blue hood over her head, concealing her white hair that was a dead giveaway to her identity in a place where there existed a warrant for her arrest. "I'll keep my scroll hooked into your system, should be good out to three miles."

And then they felt the bump, the doors sliding noiselessly open. All four women darted out into the early morning light that illuminated the half-full parking lot they found themselves in. As soon as their feet hit the pavement, the black-coated Bulldog was lifting again with a quiet whine of repulsors.

Ruby turned wordlessly towards Weiss, who had her scroll out again. The smaller woman pointed off towards their right and they immediately fanned out.

"Comm check," the brunette murmured.

"I hear ya."

"Affirmative."

"Mmm."

"Stay within sight of each other," Ruby continued as they reached the edge of the marketplace. It was fairly busy for that time of day, and rather unlike any of the open-air markets in Vacuo or Vale. The stalls here were polished chrome and glass, the displays able to easily slide up and inside to be locked at night. Both vendors and shoppers were of a much higher class, causing Blake to frown slightly.

"We're going to stick out," the Faunus woman murmured.

The brunette shrugged slightly. "Can't be helped. We get in and out, few casualties as possible."

"Right," Yang grunted, her lilac eyes scanning the crowd as they moved. "Lotta innocents here."

"Collateral damage draws unwanted attention," Ruby agreed absently.

Blake noted the brief scowl that flashed across the blonde's face at the seemingly callous attitude, but Yang quickly settled back into a thoughtful look. "Weiss…"

"Yes?"

"What are those thingies up there?"

The platinum-haired woman paused, glancing upward before she pulled her cloak tighter around her face. "Shit."

"Problem?" Ruby asked sharply at the unusually vicious utterance from her former girlfriend.

"Possibly. Facial scanners, I've likely been tagged already."

"That's… bad," Yang commented worriedly.

The brunette growled quietly under her breath, though it carried just fine over the comms. "How close are we?"

"She's moving away from us," Weiss reported, eyes fixed on her scroll. "Same aisle… I think…"

"Got her," Blake murmured quietly. "Short dark grey hair, purple coat with gold trim."

"Right, I see her," Ruby stated. "Let's…"

The brunette broke off as multiple thrusters sounded nearby. A pair of military Bulldogs soared overhead, disgorging platoons of droids who landed with dull, metallic  _thuds_.

"Ahhh, fuck me," Yang breathed.

Before anyone else could reply, hidden speakers overhead blared to life. "Attention, please. This area is under military lockdown. Weiss Schnee, you have been identified in the vicinity, do not attempt to flee or resist. All civilians, proceed to the nearest exit and evacuate the area."

"Yup," Ruby sighed, popping the end of the word. "Target escaped already."

Weiss spun in a circle with a fierce scowl on her face as she peered down at her scroll. "Damn. Yes, she's turned her scroll off as well." Her scowl intensified as she tucked the scroll into her pocket, allowed her dark blue cloak to fall from her shoulders, and pulled her rapier out.

"Would you like to burn off a little of that frustration?" Ruby asked with a trace of humor.

The platinum-haired woman nodded as she gazed around. The stalls had all closed up as the vendors fled the area along with those perusing the marketplace. Only the droids were left as they closed in, weapons pointed at the small group.

"Yes, please. I am sorely vexed right now."

"Vexed? Really?" Yang snorted. She raised her hands in surrender as Weiss directed her glare upon the blonde woman. "I mean, yeah, vexed is bad. Um… go get 'em."

With that, the pale woman was off, a white glyph at her feet propelling her forward. Seemingly without effort, more glyphs sprang into existence as she ricocheted around the marketplace, bouncing back and forth and leaving a trail of broken machinery in her wake. A few of the droids got some shots off, but they were unable to track the mobile diminutive woman.

At one point, Blake had to duck instinctively as she felt a breeze pass overhead from her teammate's passage. "Well, I see what you meant, now, about her holding back at the warehouse."

"Oh, this is nothing," Ruby chuckled, arms crossed as she witnessed the mechanical carnage. "Wait until she gets  _really_  pissed."

Shortly thereafter, Weiss came to a halt in front of the trio, panting lightly but with a pleased smirk on her face.

Blake gave her a respectful nod. "Feeling better?"

"Yes," she replied primly, smirk unabating. "Much better."

The four of them turned at another loud drone of engines. From behind the tall building nearby, a larger military airship, armed with a multitude of guns, came in fast before slowing overhead. More droids dropped down, including several Paladins. The area around them resounded with the sharp clangs of metal feet hitting the ground.

"Right, that's enough," Ruby grumbled. "Nix, we need pickup, fast."

"I see you," the pilot came back, her voice tight with worry. "But they can see me, too, if I fly in there. This baby won't hold up against the guns on that airship!"

"I have the airship," Blake growled, unlimbering  _Gambol Shroud_. "Can you all handle those on the ground?"

Weiss was already striding forward, her rapier out to the side. A large, glowing, silvery glyph spun into existence next to her, pulling forth the ethereal shape of a towering armored figure with an enormous two-handed sword.

"I think we can keep them occupied," Ruby grinned. "Be careful."

The Cat Faunus nodded, watching Yang as she strode forward, remaining at Weiss' side rather than charging forward on her own. "Don't have too much fun, now."

"I'll try not to." With that, the brunette was gone, a few dark, blood-red rose petals drifting to the ground in the spot she'd just been.

With a grunt of effort, Blake used a shadow clone to propel her forward and up. She angled her approach towards a neighboring building, eyeing the large airship as it swiveled around, disgorging one final platoon of androids.

She landed on graceful feet atop the roof, immediately racing ahead. The Faunus woman flung herself off the edge of the building, still a goodly distance away from her target.

She pushed her semblance to its limits, clones flaring in and out of existence as she gained altitude from the bursts of momentum. Soon enough, she landed in a crouch atop the flight deck of the airship, surprising several soldiers who had lined up to gawk at the battle unfolding below.

Without remorse, Blake spun in, her weapon flailing about in its Kusarigama form while the sheath clutched in her left hand flashed out to sever limbs. Her opponents could only scream briefly, unable to even unholster their weapons before they were dropped into bloody piles.

She didn't hesitate in racing forward along the port bulwark, amber eyes scanning the stern of the airship. There should be a hatch nearby, one which would lead her towards the bridge…

A portal opened in front of her, spilling out another pair of soldiers. These members of the Atlesian military were ready for her, however, and immediately opened fire.

Blake twisted to the side, allowing a clone to absorb the gunfire, while she continued on her forward sprint. Another flex of her will caused an additional pair of clones to emerge from the shadows behind the men, knocking them to the deck and allowing her to send gunfire of her own into their vulnerable bodies.

She didn't pause as she leapt over the bodies and through the hatch. Directly ahead was a stairwell and the Cat Faunus raced up to the next level unopposed.

Several twisting turns later, and numerous startled aircrewmen who were quickly deemed not to be a threat, Blake finally ended up at the bridge. She recalled how the older models had the bridge open directly onto the flight deck, smirking at the last time she did an infiltration like this.

Well, not exactly like this. Today she was turning more pirate than infiltrator.

The Cat Faunus, mindful of her companions fighting below, darted towards the hatch leading onto the bridge. Though they seemed to have things well enough in hand from the terse reports over the shared comm, even Yang who was gleefully turning androids into scrap metal, she knew they needed to evacuate the area soon before more reinforcements showed up.

As her shoulder slammed into the hatch, popping it open, she ducked and rolled inside, leaving a solitary clone standing upright. It was enough to confuse the few naval crewmembers who were attempting to defend the bridge. Gunfire shattered the consoles around her as she ducked and sprinted forward in a low crouch. On the other side, near the captain's chair, she rose back up, surprising the senior naval officer there.

The look of surprise remained on his face as his head went flying across the bridge.

Blake's lips peeled back in a snarl as she tumbled forward. Every crewman was on their feet, firing wildly with the bullets slamming into the bulkhead and instrumentation.

_Dammit, who taught these idiots how to fight on an airship! They're going to crash us before I can take control!_

Sure enough, as she twisted and turned around a different console to impale another incautious bridge crew, the deck under her began to tilt, tossing everyone to the side. With a growl, she made a lunge forwards the helm, only for it to explode in her face.

Howling furiously, Blake leapt back, flinging shadow clones out in every direction while she attempted to regain her bearings. From what she could see from the viewport, the large armored airship had gained some altitude but was quickly drifting sideways.

Right out towards the water.

_Oh, Dust damn it all…_

Crimson warning lights began to flash and a klaxon blared with an insistent pulse. Those crewmen still alive shouted in alarm as they scrambled towards the exit and the escape pods as a mechanical female voice advised everyone to abandon ship.

Deciding that was an awfully good idea at this point, Blake turned and fired  _Gambol Shroud_ at the viewport, finally shattering the tough glass completely. With a running leap, she threw herself outside, tossing a shadow clone ahead of her to cushion her fall.

"Blake!" she heard Ruby's insistent voice in her ear. "The hell is going on?"

"Airship disabled," she panted as she raced towards the starboard bulwark. The ship was tilted and drifting towards the port, but if it ended up dropping out of the sky, she'd much rather be behind the impact site, thank you very much.

"Yeah, we gathered that, Nix just picked us up! Where are you, we'll come-"

"No time!" Blake shouted, cutting her off as the end of the ship came near. She looked over her shoulder, terrified to see that they were already out over the bay. "I have to jump!"

"Blake-"

With a frenzied shout, she flung herself off the edge of the tilted airship, another clone giving her a boost. Her scant hope that the starboard edge was still over land vanished at the sight of the cold, blue water directly underneath her.

"Son of a Grimm," she breathed, bracing herself for impact.

* * *

Ruby was crouched over their pilot's shoulder, peering ahead anxiously at the battleship careening out of control over the water. Several escape pods had launched, the majority of them hitting dry land, though a few splashed down close to shore.

"There!" she shouted, spotting the dark form just as it hit the water. "Get down there, fast!"

"On it," Nix gritted out, pushing the controls forward to send them into a rapid though controlled dive towards the water's surface.

As she did so, Ruby turned and began to quickly strip off her clothing, muttering dark curses under her breath.

"Ruby," the blonde began hesitantly while Weiss finished up bandaging the shallow gash on her left arm. "What are you-"

"Stripping," her sister replied with the tone of voice that berated her for what was obviously a stupid question.

"Yeah, I see that, but why-"

Ruby grunted as she pulled her shirt over her head and plopped to the ground, tugging off her boots and leggings. "Yang, have you ever known Blake to voluntarily jump into a body of water?"

The blonde's mouth opened and then clicked shut. "Oh," she murmured, face paling.

"Er, does she not know how to swim?" Weiss asked incredulously.

Yang just wordlessly shrugged, rising from her seat as Ruby threw the door open, standing there in nothing but her underwear.

The Bulldog soared in low, coming to a rapid stop and almost tossing the women off of their feet. "At the site!" Nix shouted.

No sooner had the words left the Fox Faunus' mouth than Ruby hurtled herself out of the craft, knifing into the ice-cold water.

The brunette felt the shock of the freezing water but quickly flared her aura, enabling her to resist the extreme temperature. She began to swim down with broad, powerful strokes, feet propelling her deeper and deeper.

 _There!_  A flash of pale skin off to the left had her changing course. Fortunately, the water in the Atlesian harbor was clear enough for her to see a good distance, but what she saw made her redouble her efforts. Blake was weakly struggling to free herself from the long dark overcoat, thrashing about ineffectually. Her movements were already slowing by the time Ruby reached her.

With quick, sure movements, the brunette stripped the jacket off from around the numb Cat Faunus and wrapped both arms around her waist from behind,  _Gambol Shroud_  pressed in between them from where it was sheathed. She pushed her semblance into her legs, causing the pair of them to shoot quickly towards the surface as they churned behind her.

They shot out from the water a foot into the air, both of them gasping before they fell back again. Ruby struggled to keep Blake's head above the surface, but fortunately, hands were quickly grasping onto the both of them, hauling them up and into the Bulldog.

As soon as Yang yanked the door shut, she slammed her prosthetic fist into the bulkhead. "They're in, go go go!"

Nix obediently banked hard, firing the engines to move them away from the crash site. Behind them, the armored airship finally hit the water, sending a giant plume up into the air.

With trembling fingers, Ruby worked to strip the soggy clothes from the bedraggled Faunus woman. Blake was shivering violently, her eyes screwed shut and her teeth chattering as she clenched her hands to her chest.

"I've got her," Weiss murmured, moving around to pull the raven-haired woman's boots off. Yang joined in, stretching her partner out from the ball she'd curled into so that they could remove her tunic.

Ruby nodded shakily, the cold beginning to creep in as she was forced to let go of her aura. "Y- Y- Yang," she chattered. "S- S- Semblance…"

"Ruby…" Yang gave her sister an anguished look. "I… I can't, I'm sorry, no matter how hard I try…"

The brunette nodded once more, trembling as she wrapped her arms around her midsection. "It's… o- o- okay," she murmured.

"Coming up to the safe house," Nix announced with an anxious glance over her shoulder.

Yang and Weiss looked on as the pair of women trembled on the deck of the Bulldog, ready to run them inside the house as soon as their transport touched down.

* * *

Blake slowly peeled her eyes open. She was in an unfamiliar room and in an unfamiliar bed, without a scrap of clothing on her body and someone's arm snaked around her waist from behind.

Normally that would be plenty enough to send her straight into panic mode, but the scent that had hit her nostrils as soon as she drew in a breath instantly put her at ease. She pushed herself back a little, grinning slightly at the feel of the naked woman behind her.

Ruby let out a small hum. "I gotcha, Blake," she murmured sleepily. "Don't worry."

The Cat Faunus' grin widened. Though she remained groggy, she resisted the tendrils of sleep that threatened to claim her again.

"Didn't think you'd care," she mumbled.

The brunette chuckled quietly, rubbing her nose in between her Faunus ears. "Nah, I don't."

"No?"

"Nope. Just too much effort finding someone I can tolerate to share a bed with."

"Thought so," Blake smirked. Consciousness flew from her soon thereafter as soft snores joined the quiet purr that rumbled in her chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** I'm assuming one would use naval terms to describe the parts of an airship, rather than aircraft terms. Just a hunch. So close, yet so far. Let's see if our anti-heroes have any better luck next chapter tracking down their elusive quarry…
> 
> Fun fact, I keep mistyping Bulldog as Bullgod, which has an entirely different annotation. It's been pointed out that they're actually Bullheads, but whatever. We'll call them an upgraded version.
> 
> So, this marks the point at which I'd finished writing. Everything up to this chapter is pretty well set without a need to go back and fix things… but from here on out they get a little stickier so far as the plot goes, and that's what I need to work on, though I've managed to sort through most of what was giving me trouble. At this time I don't have plans to keep at this anytime soon, we'll just consider it on hiatus until further notice.
> 
> Stay shiny!


End file.
